Mamma Mia! That 70s Show style
by love.devil.movies.baby
Summary: Jackie is in Hawaii for Eric and Donna's wedding. With three of her former lovers set to arrive, can the soulful sounds of ABBA get her through the weekend? Most importantly, who will her heart choose?
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, so because life is becoming a tad bit angst-ridden and my other story is getting a little bit angst-ridden, I am going to write a fluffy, happy, not so serious piece. I hope you all enjoy it. It is based loosely on the play **_**Mamma Mia! **_**and is a **_**That 70s Show **_**story. All ABBA songs obviously. I own neither the songs, the play, nor the characters, just my imagination. **

* * *

I have a dream, a fantasy

To help me through reality

And my destination makes it worth the while

Pushing through the darkness still another mile

I believe in angels

Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels

When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

* * *

Jackie Burkhart took a breath caught in her throat at the expanse of white-sand beach in front of her. It was beautiful, crystal blue waves, lush greenery, the sweet melody of native birds whistling. She had been to Hawaii before, in fact, she had suggested it, but it never got old. The warm sun kissed her already tanning skin and she relished in the feel of the breeze whipping through her dark locks. She closed her blue eyes, content to enjoy the last rocking moments of the small boat that was depositing her on the shore.

Yes, she decided, this would all be worth it. She hadn't seen the group, at least not the whole group, since before the turn of the decade. It was time for a reunion. And there was no better excuse for it than Donna and Eric's wedding. She was surprised it had taken this long; she thought for sure that they would have married right after high school. But certain circumstances had delayed the happy union. Oh well, they were older now, and still had forever to be together.

Lucky bastards.

The thought crossed her mind before she could shake it. But to be honest with herself, she had always been a little jealous of what her two friends had. She had never had the stability they did, not in any of her relationships. She thought she had it in one of them, but that had blown up in her face, leaving her jaded and single.

Yes, Jackie Burkhart, cheerleader turned television star, was single.

And she was ok with that. It was better that way. No man to hold her down. She was a woman of the eighties now, not the spoiled child she had been. She was independent, a working woman, desired by all men but never tied down. She liked it that way.

Really she did.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the boat coming to a halt at the deck and the distinct cry that rang out across the pristine silence of the beach.

"MIDGET!!!!!!" Jackie's face split into a smile.

"LUMBERJACK!" she was over the side of the boat before it had even been tied, sprinting on her little midget legs as fast as she could to the towering red head running towards her. Relying on her hidden strength, Jackie tackled her friend to the sand with affection.

"It's been too long!" Donna Pinciotti, soon to be Forman, pulled her tinier friend to her feet in a bear hug. She was devoid of the flannel wardrobe that had earned her friend her nickname, but her feet, Jackie noticed with a smile, were as boat like as ever.

"It has!" Jackie embraced her friend. "How is everyone?" she steadied herself, brushing the sand from her fashionable, floral printed wrap-around skirt.

Donna readjusted the bright white flower in her hair, a stark contrast to her once-again red locks, and smiled. "Everyone's great. They're waiting for you."

"The boys are here too?" Jackie questioned, walking back with her best friend to the boat to retrieve her luggage.

"Not yet. Only Eric." the grin that spread across her face was sickeningly lovey-dovey that Jackie had to laugh.

"Good to see some things never change," she jokingly teased.

"Oh shut up. Speak for yourself." Donna gestured to the pile of matching luggage stacked in the boat.

Jackie shrugged. "I need options to look this good, you lumberjack." She hefted the suitcases out and the two started trek up to the resort. It was on a cliff overlooking the beach. It gleamed a clean, gorgeous white, letting the assortment of flowers and other natural beauty color it. Jackie loved the sight of it.

"So, how's his almost-wedded bliss?" she asked Donna, taking in the natural glow that had nothing to do with her pale, sunburned skin. Redheads just weren't built for the sun. Donna didn't seem to notice.

"It's--oh man Jackie, it's like something out of a love song!" Jackie laughed.

"When did you get all feminine and romantic?" Donna laughed.

"I don't know Jackie, it's just like that ABBA song. The one you liked, about honey?" Jackie cracked up.

"I heard about you before," she mock-sang, "I wanted to know some more…"

Donna joined in, "and now I know what they mean, you're a love machine!" she punctuated it with a spin and massive hip thrust.

"Oh yuck," Jackie made a face. "I so do not want to think of that scrawny-neighbor kid that way." but she was smiling, thrilled to be reunited with her friend. "I've missed you." she admitted.

"Me too." Donna grinned.

Hours later, Jackie was sitting cross-legged on Donna's bed, braiding her friends hair. She had already been to dinner with Red, Kitty, Eric and Bob. They had laughed (increasingly more so as the tropical drinks rolled out) but it was so good to see each other again. They had traded stories and memories all afternoon and evening, catching up on too many years gone by. The only hiccup had been the mention of a certain ex.

"So," Eric had begun, "I can't wait for Kelso, Fez and Hyde to get here."

"Oh…" Kitty had bubbled, "I miss Steven, such a sweet boy."

"For God's sake, Kitty, the dumbass is a man now!"

"Oh," she giggled overly loudly. "Such a sweet man, then." the older married couple had fallen into such a fit of giggles (or at least Kitty did, Red rolled his eyes) that they had failed to notice Jackie's fake as a three-dollar bill smile.

But Donna had.

"So, Hyde is coming tomorrow." she fished. Jackie didn't respond immediately, but she could have sworn that Jackie pulled her hair a little tighter than usual.

"Yeah, I mean, he is your future husband's best friend and sort of brother," she evaded, desperately trying to remember her Zen. Zen, damn it, it reminded her of Steven.

"Yeah---have you talked to him since--"

"Since I left for Chicago? No. But I mean--it's whatever." she tried to keep her voice level.

"I was going to say since Sam. OUCH!" Donna definitely didn't imagine the pull this time.

"No. If he wants to marry a slut, then that's on him."

"Yeah but, Jackie, there is something you should know about Hyde."

"Look Donna." Jackie sighed and lowered the brush. "This whole trip, and especially tomorrow, is about you and Eric. Not me and Hyde, or Fez or Kelso. That's yesterday's news. Now its time to think about the bliss you get to have holding Eric's scrawny butt for the rest of your life!" She giggled, avoiding Donna's teasing smack.

"Fair enough," the redhead giggled, "but catch me up on the glamorous life of a news anchor."

"Alright." Jackie sat up straighter, and it was almost like old times.

* * *

**So, what do you think? Review?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Mamma mia, here I go again  
My, my, how can I resist you?  
Mamma mia, does it show again?  
My, my, just how much I've missed you  
Yes, I've been brokenhearted  
Blue since the day we parted  
Why, why did I ever let you go?  
Mamma mia, even if I say  
Bye, bye, leave me now or never  
Mamma mia, its a game we play  
Bye, bye doesn't mean forever**

* * *

"Jackie!" the girl in question blinked blearily at the stripe of light across her face. "Midget!" she got shook again. "Wake up!"

Jackie sat up and came face to face with Donna in a bathing suit.

"The boys are here! Get up!" Jackie was up and out of bed.

"Crap! I'm not ready!" she ran her fingers through her mussed curls.

"For the love of Pete, Jackie! Just throw a bathing suit on!"

"That might be fine for you, Miss pre-wedding bliss, but I need to work a little harder to get ready in the morning." she was already in the bathroom, shrugging her pajamas off while simultaneously shoving a toothbrush in her mouth.

Donna sighed frustrated, already seizing her friends two-piece and a flowing skirt. "Here. It's not like the guys don't know what you look like already, Midget."

Jackie popped her head out of the bathroom, toothpaste dribbling down the side of her mouth, hair a mess, shielding her chest.

"I jus wabba luk gud, Dawna!" she mumbled through the white paste.

Donna doubled over laughing. "On second thought, take your time."

20 minutes later, the girls were making their way down the outside stairs of the resort and to the place where Donna had met Jackie yesterday. Eric and Kitty were already there. Red had declined their invitation, muttering something about 'girly' and Bob had shadowed him to the bar. So what it was before noon, their kids were getting married, they needed a drink.

Jackie let the warm sand slosh through her flats, liking the feeling of the wind whipping around her ankles. Her bikini top was covered in a frilly white tank top, that allowed a peak of her purple suit underneath. Donna was dressed similarly, but her suit was green. Both had tucked festive native flowers behind their ears.

Eric rushed up to meet his future bride, showering her with affection. 'Just like old times' Jackie thought, just a tiny bit jealous.

"Hey Satan," he greeted her after a moment. Kitty slapped him in the arm, but Jackie just smiled. It had been a long time since he seriously meant that nickname as an insult.

"Hey Geek," she responded pleasantly, her eyes already trained on the boat getting bigger as it came in from the horizon. She was suddenly overcome with goose bumps. She told herself it was the breeze, but knew that nerves had more to do with it.

Her stomach tossed and turned as the boat got closer. Jackie tried to engage in the small talk with the small greeting party, but found her thoughts straying. It had been years since they were all together and even more years since she had last seen him…

A reassuring hand on her shoulder from Kitty brought her back to Earth.

"A lot has changed since you all were kids," she whispered softly. Jackie smiled at her, appreciating the sentiment. She hoped so.

The boat pulled up to shore and immediately Michael Kelso leapt out, hurling the contents of his stomach into the ocean. Fez was quick to follow, already comforting his friend.

"Poor Kelso. Was it the rocking that did it?" he was on the sand, patting his friends back. Behind him, and last, but certainly not least, Steven Hyde jumped out of the boat, landing gracefully on the sand. He was still wearing his trademark pants, but his concert tee had been replaced with a button down shirt.

Jackie felt her heart skip a beat. He had grown up. And damn him if he didn't look good.

"It wasn't the boat. It's because he's a pansy." Hyde teased, smacking his friend roughly on the back and going to greet his surrogate mother and brother. He shook Eric's hand, accepted a hug from an ecstatic Kitty and awkwardly one arm hugged Donna. Then he looked up at Jackie.

His eyes were covered by his usual aviators, but because of the brightness of the sun, his eyes were barely visible. But Jackie didn't need to see his eyes to notice the slight change in posture, the way he buried his free hand in his pocket.

"Hey Steven," she pasted the smile on again and tried to ignore the pounding of her heart as it rattled her ribcage.

"Hey, Jackie." the awkward moment was allowed to pass as Fez ran toward her.

"My goddess!" he threw himself into her arms.

"Fezzy!" she hugged him back earnestly. The two of them had dated for a shirt time before realizing it was like dating a sibling and calling it off. They remained good friends until this day, talking at least a few times a month.

"Your hair is beautiful as ever," he crooned adoringly. Jackie knew that Fez now owned the salon he had once shampooed in. "You will have to let me do it for the wedding."

"Hey! You have to do mine first!" Donna cut in, smiling at her old friend.

"Of course!" Fez moved to Donna, allowing Kelso to cut in.

"Hey Jackie!" he smiled that big, goofy, grin that used to melt her heart at her.

"Hey Michael." she hugged him, avoiding getting too close to his barf breath. "How's your daughter?"

"She's great. She's taking a lot after her Mom."

"Thank God!" Eric interjected, pulling his friend away from Jackie.

The little crowd made their way back to the beach, all paired off, leaving Jackie and Hyde in the back.

"So," she began, "How have you been Steven?"

"Uh, pretty good, Jacks." her breath hitched at her nickname. Hyde was looking straight ahead, his voice the picture of Zen. "How's Chicago?"

"It's good. Work is really--"

"Yeah, I see you on TV sometimes. You look good." Jackie ignored the warmth that shot through her body at his comment. Steven Hyde watched her on TV and still thought she looked good…

"Hey, Midget! Come on! You need to get me ready for my bachelorette party!" Donna was beckoning her.

"Oh, well, I better go," she stammered, smiling uncertainly at her ex.

"Go help your friend get plastered," he instructed, gracing her with a real smile. It took all of Jackie's self-restraint not to skip to her best friend.

"So…" Donna and Jackie had gone to brunch with the rest of the group, and as a result of some more tasty drinks were feeling a bit tipsy back in their room. Donna was giggling on Jackie's bed, playing truth or dare, just like the old high school days.

"Truth!" Jackie picked. She was feeling good after those Mimosas.

"Ok, if you could do anyone of the three boys that came today, who would it be?"

"Steven." there was no hesitation. "He was so, I don't know good! He just made me feel like a woman."

"Ha! I knew it! You still love Hyde!" Donna snorted and laughed hysterically, rolling sideways.

"Shut up!" Jackie smacked her across the back of the head. Donna soon retaliated and in seconds they were rolling all over the bed, Jackie yelling shut up, while Donna chanted "I knew it!" In the background, ABBA Dancing Queen blared.

Jackie gave Donna a particularly hard hit, singing the lyrics at the top of her lungs to drown out her still screaming best friend. Donna rolled over, knocking Jackie to the bed and wailing on her head with the soft weapon.

"Admit it!" she demanded.

"No!" Jackie squealed.

"Admit it!" she repeated.

"No!" Jackie flipped them over, smacking her friend again with the pillow.

They were so lost in their tipsy pillow war that they didn't notice the visitors crowded in the doorway.

"It's like a fantasy come true!" Fez gasped.

"Get her Jackie! Don't let Donna kick your ass too!" it was a well-known fact that Donna had beat them all up at some point.

"Good to see some things never change." Hyde was leaning on the doorframe, looking nonchalant.

"Donna, I hate to break up this pillow talk--"

"Awww…." Fez and Kelso whined at the same time. Eric shot them a dirty look.

"But my mom wants to ask you something about the wedding tomorrow." he concluded.

"Alright," the redhead couldn't resist smacking her friend one last time before getting up and following her fiancé out of the room.

"Eric always has to ruin the good stuff," Kelso complained following them out.

"Too true, my friend." Fez comforted him, shooting Jackie one more longing look.

Only Hyde lingered. Jackie pretended to not notice, instead lying backward on the bed, trying to catch her breath. He made his way over and sat down next to her. The mattress creaked with his weight. Jackie looked up at him. The alcohol flowing through her veins told her that looking up at Hyde from this angle was hilarious. She promptly burst into giggles. Hyde looked amused.

"I haven't seen you like this since we used to have circle time." Jackie rolled over and pushed herself up on her arms.

"Well, Ste-ven," she drawled his name out, more from habit then alcohol, "I happen to laugh a lot. You just haven't seen me in a long time."

"Not since you ran off to Chicago." he took a sip from the beer he was nursing in his hands. Jackie looked up at him, noticing that he flipped his sunglasses down over his previously exposed eyes. Annoyed that he shut her out and brought up the past simultaneously, she hopped off the bed.

"Like you ran off to Vegas?" she questioned overly sweetly.

He just smiled crookedly at her and stood up as well.

"See you around, Jacks." she glared at the back of his head as he walked toward the door. Suddenly, he turned, "Oh and doll? You might want to fix that." he gestured to her chest. To her horror, Jackie noticed that her suit had shifted during the fight and her breast was very much exposed. Gasping, she crossed her arms over her chest and watched a laughing Steven Hyde leave the room.

**

* * *

**

**Is it any good? Or should I call it quits? Let me know!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I can still recall our last summer  
I still see it all  
Walks along the seine, laughing in the rain  
Our last summer  
Memories that remain**

* * *

Hyde wandered down the hall and back to the room he knew he could find the guys in. He was glad the hall was devoid of anyone he knew because he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. Catching Jackie off guard like that…well it was almost worth her snaky comment. And to be fair, he did bring it up…

His thoughts were interrupted by Fez's voice.

"Hyde! Come on!" Hyde resumed his trademark indifference and swaggered into the room. His friends were all sitting on the ground in a circle. Hyde smirked at them, knowing what they wanted to do.

"Circle time?" he asked, joining them.

"Well," Eric spoke up, "that depends on whether or not you managed to bring a certain item…" Hyde grinned, pulling his "stuff" out of his pocket.

"Alright!" Kelso couldn't contain his enthusiasm.

Ten minutes later, the four of them sat in a haze of smoke.

"Man, I can't believe you're getting married, Forman!" Kelso cracked up, looking at Eric with an incredulous facial expression.

"I know, it seems like yesterday we were all in your basement, sitting in a circle, talking about girls…" Fez looked dreamily at the bag of candy in his hand, popping a chocolate in his mouth.

"We're basically doing that now, man." Hyde laughed at his foreign friend.

"Except without talking about girls." Eric pointed out.

"You can't talk about girls anymore, man, you're getting married!" Kelso pointed at him.

"Hey!" Eric protested, "I can talk about girls whenever I want…at least until tomorrow night." he amended.

"Let's talk about girls!" Fez squealed.

"Let's talk about sex!" Kelso added with a doofy grin.

Hyde just shook his head. "Whatever."

"Alright guys," Kelso started, "If you could do anyone here, who would it be?" it was an old game, tried and true.

"Jackie." Fez didn't hesitate.

"Donna." Eric's answer was obvious.

"Both." Kelso said, "at the same time." he cracked up again.

"How about you Hyde?" Eric asked, ignoring Kelso.

Hyde shrugged. "Jackie was good."

Kelso laughed harder. "Hey, like 90% of the people in here have done Jackie!" he laughed again.

"I didn't" Fez admitted, sucking on a tootsie pop.

"No?" Hyde looked surprised.

"No. We barely kissed. It was too weird."

"Weird, how?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. I think she was still in love with someone else."

"Yeah, me!" Kelso looked pleased with himself.

"No, dummy. Hyde!" Fez exclaimed.

"Holy shit, man. Really?" Eric glanced at Hyde.

"Whatever man. That was a long time ago. I bet she's over it." Hyde played it off, pretending that he hadn't heard Jackie admit to wanting to 'do him' not 15 minutes ago. Eric didn't look so convinced.

"So only, like 70% of us have slept with Jackie then!" Kelso looked confused. Hyde rolled his eyes.

"Whatever man. Eric, what are we doing for your last day as a free man?" Eric smiled.

Jackie was down the hall, putting the final touches on her makeup and hair. She spun in the mirror, checking out her figure from all angles. She was wearing a light sun dress. It was sinfully red. She smiled, pleased that she looked hot.

Donna walked out of the closet, wearing a white dress and a neon pink tulle veil. 'I'm the bride to be!' was written across it in bright sequin letters. Hanging all over the veil were fake flowers and other pieces of paper, each one declaring an assignment or task she had to finish before her party ended.

"I look ridiculous." her voice was flat.

"Don't worry. In an hour you'll be so drunk it won't matter." Jackie comforted her, pinning her hair back.

"I don't see why you get to be all pretty and I have to look like _this_." she gestured to her head.

"Because, Lumberjack. You get to be the beautiful bride tomorrow. You have your man. Me, I get to have some good, dirty, single girl fun." she teased, grinning broadly at her friend.

"With who?" Donna asked nosily.

"Maybe a hottie native. The world is mine." she gave her friend a seductive look over her shoulder.

"Not Hyde?" Donna asked sneakily.

"What? Donna, I have been there, and done that."

"And liked it a lot, if memory serves." Donna grinned wickedly.

"He's married. To a stripped! God knows what I would get!" she haughtily flipped her hair.

"So, if he wasn't married…"

"Donna! I'm over Hyde!"

"Sure. The lady doth protest too much, me think." Jackie smacked her lightly on the arm.

"You're such a dork. Come on, the guys are going to be leaving soon. I want to see them go."

Donna nodded and followed her friend out of the door, but not before snatching the horrendous veil off of her head.

The guys were all dressed in their swim gear and standing on the beach. It was obvious that they had resumed the ritual of 'circle time.' Jackie rolled her eyes as an already plastered Eric made his way toward Donna.

"Baby! I'm going to my last night as a free man! But don't worry, I won't cheat on you, like these other guys did…"

"They cheated on _me_, Eric, not Donna." Jackie rolled her eyes.

"My goddess, I would like to point out that I never cheated."

"No you didn't Fezzy," she smiled kindly at him, pointedly avoiding Hyde's gaze.

"I did!" Kelso proclaimed loudly, sloshing his drink over his shirt.

"Jeez, dumbass," Red muttered behind her. Jackie turned around to look at him and was rewarded with a small wink.

"Don't cheat on me ok?" Eric slurred. "Cuz, I love you Donna!" his fiancée was now fully supporting his drunken form.

"Holy hell," Red growled. "Hyde! Get this dumbass out of here before I bury my foot in his--" he was cut off by his wife hitting his arm.

"Don't worry, Mr. Forman. We've got him." Hyde and Kelso stepped forward, relieving Donna of her trashed lover. Hyde's glasses slipped down his face when Eric grabbed for him, revealing his eyes. Jackie was standing right in front of them watching the exchange. Her ex-boyfriend took the time to rake his eyes over every inch of her body. When he made it back up to her face, he winked at her before pushing his glasses up and moving away.

Instead of feeling violated, Jackie allowed herself to smile. When Hyde turned away, of course. Donna noticed and gave her a self-satisfied smirk.

"Shut up," she snapped, not really angrily. "At least my future husband isn't getting carried down the beach." Donna laughed.

"Are you sure?" she said too softly for Jackie to hear, watching the guys support each other.

**

* * *

**

Wow, I was surprised to get so many positive reviews on something I wrote on a whim. I guess I will keep going. Thanks you guys!


	4. Chapter 4

**I've had a few little love affairs  
They didn't last very long and they've been pretty scarce  
I used to think that was sensible  
It makes the truth even more incomprehensible  
cause everything is new  
And everything is you  
And all I've learned has overturned  
What can I do......**

Don't go wasting your emotion  
Lay all your love on me  
Don't go sharing your devotion  
Lay all your love on me

* * *

ABBA was blasting it's way out of the jukebox near the door. Hyde would have found it annoying, but his friends were doing a very loud, very plastered, rendition of the song, complete with pelvic thrusts, sloshing beer and off key falsettos. Oh yeah, this was going to be a major burn tomorrow.

"It was like shooting a sitting duck!" Fez and Kelso proclaimed, Kelso making a 'gun' with his fingers.

"A little small talk and Donna, I was stuck!" Eric yelled loudly, attracting the attention of the dozen or so hot strippers watching them interestedly. One blonde was giving Hyde the eye. He ignored her with Zen-like discipline. He was done with blondes. And strippers.

His friends continued singing at the top of their lungs, Fez warbling some sort of awful harmony.

"God, I can't believe you guys know the words to this song," Hyde teased, throwing back another beer.

"Hey, we all dated Jackie at some point. She loves this band!" Kelso justified before continuing.

"What's your excuse Forman?" Hyde laughed at his friend, who was inserting the name "Donna" anywhere he could.

"He's a girl." Fez burned, causing the whole group to laugh uproariously.

"Hey!" a drunken Forman protested, "How do you not know the words? Satan used to play this all the time!"

Hyde tried to ignore the twitch in his jaw at Eric's nickname for his ex. Instead he put on his Zen face and said, "I never paid any attention to that crap."

"Uh-uh," Kelso interjected. "Then how come we were in the basement one time and that music was coming from your room?" all three friends turned to look at Hyde accusingly.

He shrugged. "She would only screw me if she could pick the music. So I let her pick. Plus, it drowned out the sound of you perverted morons listening in."

"Ah," Fez reminisced, "the sounds my goddess used to make. How I wish she would have made them for me."

"Fez, man, you had your chance. Why didn't you take it?" Eric asked.

"Because, it was not me that beauty desired. It was another." he looked accusingly at Hyde.

"You could have been a rebound." he shrugged.

"Yes, but I respect her more than that. I just helped her pick up the pieces of her poor, beautiful heart." Fez sighed and Hyde tried to ignore how uncomfortable his statement had just made him. "Hey, is there any candy in here?" Fez quickly forgot Jackie and looked around.

"There's a whole mess of it," a stripper had sidled up to the table, her posse behind her. "Want a taste?" she produced a lollipop out of God only knows where.

"Whoo hoo!' Kelso yelled, "Strippers, Hyde! Just like your ex-wife!"

It was a testament to their friendship that Hyde didn't deck him in the middle of the club. Instead he watched his friends get dragged away, politely declined a lap dance and settled for watching a very uncomfortable Eric turn beet red as a stripper motor boated him with huge, prosthetic tits.

An hour later, Eric was so trashed the others decided he better go home and sleep it off before Donna killed him for passing out during their wedding. Well Hyde and Fez decided that anyway. Kelso whined and complained the whole cab ride back to the hotel.

"So," he grumbled when Eric had been successfully tucked in. "It's only midnight. I want to get some tonight!"

Hyde rolled his eyes. Fez spoke up, "We could crash the girls' party. You might get action there. We all might." Fez excited himself, jumping up and down, squealing like a girl. Kelso joined them.

"Please, Hyde, please, please, please?" they chanted in unison. Hyde hid his smile.

"Whatever."

Jackie's eyes were as big as saucers. The girls' party was taking place down by the beach, on a little platform overlooking the water. There was DJ, disco lights, open bar and a stage. The stage, or rather what was on it, was what was concerning her. She couldn't believe this. Her mother, Pam Burkhart, Eric's mother, and Donna's mother Midge, were all onstage singing ABBAs Super trooper as loud at they could. She hadn't even known her mother was coming, but she showed up to the party, in all her big- boobed, blonde highlighted-hair glory, declaring she wouldn't miss this for the world.

Of course she wouldn't. Beaches, free booze and hot young natives to exploit? Pam Burkhart couldn't be far. Too bad she missed her daughter's entire childhood.

It was almost worth it though, to watch her mother make an ass out of herself on stage. Or at least, it would have been, if Eric and Donna's mothers weren't up their too.

They were wearing neon, sequined disco outfits, platform shoes, and performing what was obviously a choreographed (or attempted choreographed) number.

__

Super trouper beams are gonna blind me  
But I wont feel blue  
Like I always do  
cause somewhere in the crowd there's you

The poorly harmonized lyrics made Jackie grimace and want to shout "Blasphemy!" at the top of her lungs. How dare they butcher her favorite band?

Donna looked equally as horrified. A smile crossed both of their faces, however, when Pam went toppling off of her stilettos and took out Midge, leaving a drunk and oblivious Kitty to warble out the remainder of the song.

"So," Donna began, "to tell Eric and Red or to not tell Eric and Red…"

"Tell," Jackie smiled devilishly at her.

"Oh yeah, Midget. Definitely tell." they cracked up, but their laughter was soon silenced by Kitty's next announcement.

"That song was for my future daughter-in-law. Donna, we all love you very much, and I can honestly say, I have never wanted anyone else for my Eric." Kitty's voice cracked at the emotional speech, causing Donna to rush up stage and hug her and eliciting an "awwwwww…" from the crowd of women.

"Oh," Kitty added a moment later, "and Jackie dear, this is for destroying a favorite of yours."

On cue, ABBA's Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! pulsed through the speakers, causing a collective squeal of all the women around. Donna had invited only Jackie from home, but several other people through her radio connections and by word of mouth, other women from the resort had shown up too. The result was a pretty hopping party.

"Come on, Lumberjack! There are no guys here, so you have to dance with me!" She swung her friend out into the crowd, nearly divesting her of her 'veil.'

"Alright, Midget, calm your hormones." Donna laughed, but swung her body in time with her friends.

Jackie twisted and twirled, singing the lyrics, delighted. Now if only there was a man….

As though on cue, she caught Fez and Kelso sprinting at the two of them. Within seconds, Donna and Jackie had been pressed together as the filling for a Kelso/Fez 'manwhich.' Jackie and Donna just shrugged and continued spinning, even going so far as to rub up on their friends.

To her delight, Fez was still a great dancer and Kelso…well, he was excited and drunk enough for it not to really matter. Fez grabbed her hand and swung her out, spinning them off into a little dance duet. Jackie giggled, enjoying being whipped around by so talented of a dancer. She swung and twisted her hips in time with the beat, flirtatiously mouthing the words to Fez as they danced.

When the song came to a conclusion, the DJ let the beat go on for a bit more and Jackie was allowed to hug her male friends before they got pulled into the testosterone-deprived crowd. They didn't seem too upset about it. Jackie headed off to get a drink and catch her breath, happily watching her best friend assume the center of attention as more males crashed the party, eager to fulfill the 'assignments' hanging from her veil.

She made her way to the bar, intending to get a tropical delight. She stopped short in her tracks when she came face-to-face with a very cool Steven Hyde leaning against her destination.

"Still got the moves, huh Jacks?" he teased.

"Whatever," she retorted, "you just miss them Steven." she bumped her hips seductively into his to punctuate the statement.

"Maybe. But I bet I'm still a better dance partner than the freaky foreigner." Both turned to look at the man in question, now successfully dancing with about ten women, looking like Christmas had come early.

"I doubt it," Jackie laughed, accepting the pina colada from the bartended. "That's some serious stamina."

"You're forgetting I have stamina too," Hyde whispered in her ear softly. His warm breath sent shivers down her spine.

"Well," she sipped her drink and flipped her hair over her shoulder simultaneously, trying to remain nonchalant. "Remind me then, Puddin' Pop." she knew that would get him. Embarrassing nicknames and dares were something Steven Hyde could never turn down.

"Alright then," he pried the drink from her hand and sat it on the bar. "Watch this for her," he instructed the bartender. "And you, let's go." Jackie felt her arm being tugged as he dragged her back on to the dance floor.

The two of them danced for several songs, mostly immersed in a drunken, and increasingly more horny crowd. Women pressed up on Hyde and some mysterious young natives even grabbed Jackie every once in a while, but Hyde always managed to pull her back to him. After a while, the party began to break up into smaller, more private parties as the guests spread out across the beach. Jackie looked up to see an annoyed looking Red attempting to collect his wife. More concerning was her own mother, cuddled in the corner with none other than Michael Kelso. Her eyes widened.

"I'm going to kick him so hard---" she started furiously, but was cut off by Hyde grabbing her.

"Let it go, doll. The two bimbos can't stay away from each other forever. Just thank God he isn't dating you when he does it." though she really ought to be disgusted, Jackie found herself laughing at Hyde's comment.

"True," she conceded. He grinned at her.

"Come on," Before she knew it, Jackie was being led off, hand in hand with a man she vowed never to speak to again, down the beach.

* * *

** Thanks for the reviews! I know there are a few errors, but honestly, I am just cranking this one out of my brain. But I will do my best to correct them. Keep reviewing please!**

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**People everywhere  
A sense of expectation hanging in the air  
Giving out a spark  
Across the room your eyes are glowing in the dark  
And here we go again, we know the start, we know the end  
Masters of the scene  
We've done it all before and now were back to get some more  
You know what I mean**

Voulez-vous (ah-ha)  
Take it now or leave it (ah-ha)  
Now is all we get (ah-ha)  
Nothing promised, no regrets

Voulez-vous (ah-ha)  
Aint no big decision (ah-ha)  
You know what to do (ah-ha)  
La question cest voulez-vous  
Voulez-vous...

**

* * *

**

Hyde couldn't believe his luck. Jackie was holding his hand, letting him drag her down the beach. Well, he actually wasn't dragging her; she was walking with him. It could have been the alcohol, but Hyde told himself it wasn't. Maybe she still loved him.

Her small hand felt warm cradled against his broad palm. She was swinging their connected arms slowly, gently humming some song. He looked back and smiled at her. It was almost like she forgot. Or forgave him.

The thought sent a chill shooting through his body that had nothing to do with tropical breezes. Once they were just out of sight of the party, he pulled her down next to him on the cool sand. She lowered herself down, spreading her skirt out and letting her hair whip back prettily in the wind. She was beautiful. Just like always.

He found himself pushing his glasses off, exposing his eyes for the first time that trip. She looked over at him, her blue-green eyes sparkling.

"You still have gorgeous eyes," she complimented quietly.

"So do you." God, he was sounding like Forman. Hyde decided he didn't give a damn. She smiled and looked away, her skin flushing. Hyde pulled her closer to him and ran his fingers through her thick hair, leaning in closer. "God. I've missed you, Jacks."

"Me too." it was so quiet he could barely hear it. But those two little words ignited a hope he hadn't felt in years. He leaned into her with the intention of a kiss.

Jackie turned her head away and he ended up kissing her hair.

"So, did Eric tell you the plan for tomorrow?" Jackie was scooting over and adjusting her dress, her change of subject a blatant hint.

"No…" Hyde tried to hide his disappointment. "he just kept rambling on about Donna."

"He's such a sweetheart." she was looking off over the ocean with a romantic twinkle in her eye.

"Did you just call Eric a sweetheart?" he couldn't keep the shock out of his voice.

"Well, yeah. He loves my best friend and will literally do anything for her. That's just so…sweet. Donna is so lucky."

Hyde scoffed. "I always figured it was the other way around."

"They both are lucky. God, I get so jealous sometimes." she was looking down at the ground intently, playing with sand. The two fell into an awkward silence. Hyde felt awful. She was still miserable, and it was all his fault. He ground his teeth, desperately trying to think of something to say.

"You know Jacks--"

"Oh yeah." she interrupted him, "Donna wants us all to go to a morning luau and then snorkeling!" her facial expression changed to one that was excited. "I have never been snorkeling! I'm so excited. I love the water."

"I thought you hated it, and now you're going to swim with fish in the water?" his voice was incredulous. He silently thanked God that she had been the one to change the subject. He still hated feelings.

"Yeah, well, when I moved to Chicago, I thought it was time to try new things." she sounded defiant. Her eyes were flashing with a familiar spark. he couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah?" he sounded impressed. "Like what?"

"Um, let's see…I've been bungee jumping, oh and I jumped out of an airplane, that was a lot of fun. And sometimes the staff at the station all go paintballing. I'm really good at that. And I learned to skateboard and play guitar…"

"Wow." Hyde's mouth had fallen open. "That's…" he couldn't think of a word beside 'different.' Old Jackie never tried anything new.

"Yeah, well, my job calls me to report on a lot of things. So I try a lot of things now. I decided when I moved that it was time to live for me a little bit. It's been great."

"So, no guys?" he tried to sound nonchalant.

"No." she laughed bitterly, "None that last long enough to mention. Men aren't my strong point. I guess I don't stick around long enough though."

"Long enough for what?"

"Well, to do what they want for one thing."

"As in…sex?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yup. It complicates things, feelings and all that. So I stopped."

"You stopped?" the thought was incomprehensible to him. When they were together…well, she hadn't considered stopping, that's for sure,

"And it feels great." she was looking at him pointedly. "You don't get hurt that way." he looked away.

"If you say so," his voice had the Zen in it again.

"I do say so. And besides, you're married. You don't have to worry about those things anyway." wait, she still thought he was married? No one had told her? Damn, that's why she wouldn't let him kiss her.

"Jacks, Sam and I--"

"Yeah. I'm glad it's working out." she was suddenly on her feet, looking off in the distance. "Donna's going to need me to put her to bed. She doesn't want to be blotchy tomorrow for her wedding." she was already moving off quickly through the sand. "Nice to talk to you again, Steven." she graced him with a smile and hurried off.

Hyde fell backward in the sand. She still thought he was married.

"Shit, I'm in trouble."

*****

In the hotel, Jackie was supporting her wasted friend back into their room.

"God, Jackie, I am so in love!" she was practically yelling it.

"I know lumberjack. I know," Jackie rolled her eyes, but continued to hold her up.

"I mean, do you know what it feels like to be this in love?" she asked boisterously, her look suddenly serious.

"I thought I did," Jackie said nonchalantly as she unlocked their door. "But, you know, I guess not." she pushed it open and helped her friend inside.

"With Hyde?" Donna yelled.

"Yeah. With him." Jackie figured she wasn't going to remember this conversation anyway, so what the hell?

"I'm sorry, midget," Donna was suddenly sobbing her eyes out.

"Donna, what's wrong?" Jackie turned from putting the keys on the dresser and ran to her friend, concern written all over her face.

"I'm such a bitch!" Donna sobbed louder and flopped on the bed.

"No, you're not. You're beautiful and you are getting married to the man of your dreams tomorrow." Jackie massaged her friend's back soothingly. "And you're not going to want to look all red as your hair when you do it. So stop that crying this instant!" she mock-scolded. It didn't work.

"I'm sorry I was friends with Sam." Donna choked out suddenly.

Jackie was taken aback. "Wh-What?"

"I'm sorry I was nice to her. I kept telling myself it was the right thing to do. But I should have just been a bitch to her, like I wanted to. Then maybe she would have gone back to Vegas. But I made her all welcome, and she stayed. And you lost Hyde."

"Donna," Jackie didn't know what to say. What Donna was talking about hurt so badly she refused to think about it for the last three years. And now, now she was apologizing? "It's fine," she said. "Go to sleep."

"No," her red-haired friend continued to cry. "You were always there for me, every break up, and now at my wedding, and I wasn't there for you."

"You were." she protested.

"No I wasn't!" Donna sat up, nearly taking her small friend out. "None of us were. God, Jackie, I'm sorry. You should hate us all right now."

"I don't." Jackie said truthfully. "And you've been forgiven for a long time now, Donna. Now stop crying before I have to tickle you to death."

Donna smiled weakly. "You're great, you know that. Can I ask you something?"

"Anything," Jackie smoothed her hair back.

"Can you forgive Hyde?" Donna was looking at her earnestly.

"There is nothing to forgive. He did what his heart told him to," Jackie stood up and headed to the closet to change, pulling the dress off as she went.

"No, Jackie, he didn't. There's something you need to know about Hyde--" Donna was cut off by the urge to throw up. "Oh God," she rushed into the bathroom. Jackie sighed and followed her, happy that the conversation had ended.

A half hour later, Donna was tucked safely and cleanly (Jackie had insisted that she shower and brush her teeth) into bed, passed out.

Jackie took the time for herself, pulling her hair back into two neat plaits and changing into her pajamas. Because it was so warm, she decided to sleep outside on the hammock. She rummaged through her clothing for a moment, finally settling on a faded, well-worn black tee. She pulled it on, enjoying the familiar comfort of the cotton. It was an old Led Zeppelin shirt. It had been a gift long ago. When she got to Chicago, it had spent several months balled in the bottom of her underwear drawer. But then she had taken out, and any time she needed some extra comfort, she wore it to bed. She told no one, but figured Donna had long ago forgotten about it. It would be safe to sleep in it tonight. She needed the comfort.

Jackie seized a blanket and a pillow and drug them to the balcony, situating herself in the hammock. She was lucky she was small enough to fit in it comfortably. She closed her eyes, allowing the relaxing sounds of the ocean to lull her to sleep.

* * *

**So, that concludes Act I. Thanks so much for all of the positive reviews. You guys are making a rough week go a little easier. :)**


	6. Act II

**Where are those happy days, they seem so hard to find  
I tried to reach for you, but you have closed your mind  
Whatever happened to our love?  
I wish I understood  
It used to be so nice, it used to be so good**

**So when you're near me, darling cant you hear me  
S. o. s.  
The love you gave me, nothing else can save me  
S. o. s.  
When you're gone  
How can I even try to go on?  
When you're gone  
Though I try how can I carry on?**

**

* * *

**

Steven Hyde woke up to an empty beer can bouncing off of his head. He bolted up in bed, rubbing his eyes.

"What the hell?" he protested, looking for the culprit.

"Get up sleepy head," Fez crooned, finger waving him.

"Yeah, dummy. It's time to get ready for the stuff today!" Kelso was standing over him, wearing a fluffy floral robe and a towel around his head.

"You mean the wedding, you dumbass?" Hyde stretched, looking annoyed. "That's not until tonight."

"Yeah, don't you want to look good? I mean, you are going to be standing next to me." Kelso smirked, striking some goofy pose. Hyde glared at him.

"This is true, he is very good looking. But once I am done with Donna, her beauty will eclipse yours, my friend," Fez patted his friend on the back.

"Geez, Fez. Why does she get to be prettier than me?" Kelso whined.

"She is the bride." Fez shrugged and rummaged through a large bag on his bed, pulling out what looked like torture devices with electrical plugs attached to them. "I can't decided if I should curl or straighten, or crimp her hair." the man looked conflicted.

"Curl the ends," Kelso suggested.

"Ai! It's brilliant." Kelso smirked.

"Yeah, well, so am I." Hyde rolled his eyes.

"Whatever man, just let me into the bathroom. I need to shower."

"Uh-uh," Kelso protested, "Eric locked himself in the other one since he's the 'groom'" Kelso finger quoted the word with a roll of his eyes. Hyde glared. "and Fez has to feather my hair in this one." Fez nodded.

"It is true. He can't do the back without me." He fingered Kelso's hair adoringly.

"Just let me in, damn it," Hyde was already picking up his clothes for the day and making his way over.

"No!" Kelso yelled, causing Hyde to stop in surprise. "Go use another one!"

"What other one?" Hyde was seriously annoyed now.

"The girls have a spare bathroom. Go ask them." Fez suggested, already plugging in the hair things. Hyde growled, but decided it wasn't worth it to fight for the shower. He gather his stuff and stormed out of the room. As the door swung shut, he could hear Kelso.

"Use the extra hold stuff today. I want to look extra hot." Hyde rolled his eyes. It was amazing the two of them were straight. He made his way down the hall blearily, still tired from last night. Oh man, he needed to talk to Jackie. It was actually a good thing he was forced to use their bathroom. It would give him an excuse to start a conversation. He raised his fist to knock on the door, but it swung open before he could. Donna stood there, looking a little tired, but happy.

"Hey Hyde," she greeted. "I was going to go down to your room to get Fez. I want him to do my hair." she exhaled. "Thank God Jackie made me braid my hair last night and wash it. Otherwise…well, it would be bad." she made a face.

"Want to trade? I got kicked out of the bathroom so he could do Kelso's hair." Hyde rolled his eyes.

"Damn it. I called dibs!" Donna stormed out of the room. "Oh yeah, could you wake up Jackie? I forgot she slept on the hammock last night." Hyde nodded.

"Will do." Donna waved and hurried off, muttering something about "damn Kelso." Hyde smiled and stepped into the room.

It looked like feminine products had exploded all over the room. Makeup, dresses, heels, bathing suits and hair stuff was scattered all over the bed and trailed off onto the bedside table. Donna was really going crazy. No wonder Jackie had slept outside. He put his stuff on the counter of the bathroom and went to wake the tiny woman up. She was indeed snuggled under a blanket on the balcony's hammock. She looked peaceful; Hyde was painfully reminded of how she used to look when she slept like that in his bed. He swallowed the lump in his throat and went to wake her.

"Jackie," he tried, "Jacks!" he shook her gently. Her eyes popped open in a panic and she sat up quickly, nearly tipping herself out of her makeshift bed.

"Steven!" she exclaimed as he reached out to steady her. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to use your shower. Donna went to get her hair done. Didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's ok, I just wasn't expecting you, that's all," She neglected to mention that it had scared her because she had been dreaming of him. He noticed she was pulling the blanket around her a little higher. Confused, he really looked at her for the first time. She was wearing something black. Intrigued, he nonchalantly pulled the blanket down.

"Come on, Jacks. Get up. Everyone is freaking out." He stood up and waited. She seemed hesitant to get up, but eventually resigned. She jumped down from the hammock, letting the blanket fall off of her.

Hyde nearly passed out. She was wearing a Led Zeppelin tee. _His _Led Zeppelin tee. She still had it. And to make matters worse (or better, depending on how you looked at it) she wasn't wearing pants. Just his shirt. He couldn't tear his eyes away, despite the fact that he didn't have his shades on to shield him.

Jackie looked uncomfortable under his intense gaze. She shifted awkwardly, trying to get around him. He blocked her.

"It still looks good on you." he stated. Good was the understatement of the century. He was having a hard time forming coherent thoughts. He just wanted to grab her, push her back into the hammock and reclaim that shirt…

He shook the thoughts away. "I'm going to go take that shower now. Unless you want it first--"

"Oh no," she shook her head. "I'll wait. I take long showers." he nodded, trying not to think about other long showers that they had experienced together….

"That's cool," he said instead. He tried to look nonchalant as he swaggered back to the bathroom. When he was gone, Jackie let out a long exhale. It figured that he caught her. His facial expression when he saw her had nearly melted her. He shouldn't look at her like that, not anymore. He had no right. He left her, for a _stripper_, decided that two years was worth throwing away on a drunken trip to Vegas, that a _whore_ was better than someone who loved him with all her heart.

Jackie blinked away tears and hastily began sorting through her luggage for an outfit today. She wouldn't think about him. She hadn't for years, and now was not the time to regress. What happened, happened. It wasn't going to change. She fished out a colorful bikini with boy-short bottoms and laid it out on the one bare spot on the bed. Disgusted with the mess, she began folding and rearranging, clearing the room enough to be presentable. She tucked all of Donna's clothes back into the closet and packed up her makeup, choosing a color pallet she knew would look good on her friend and setting it on the counter for later. She was excited for her friend. She was going to be a married woman. Wow, the thought was mind blowing. When did they all become adults?

"Jackie?" her thoughts were interrupted by a call from the bathroom. She wondered what he needed.

"Yeah?" she called back, finishing up her organizing and grabbing her suit. She pushed into the bathroom.

Steven Hyde was hanging out of the shower a little bit, his torso barely exposed. She tried not to let her breath hitch at the sight.

"Can you get me--I mean, there are no towels. Can you get me one? Please?" he asked sheepishly. Jackie just nodded, very conscious of the fact that she was still in his shirt and he was very naked on the other side of that curtain. She walked out of the room and located the stack of fluffy white towels on a chair where housekeeping left them this morning. She picked up the stack and brought them into the bathroom.

"Here," she handed him one and turned to put the rest down next to her clothing.

"Thanks," she heard him drying off and stepping out of the shower. She turned to the door, but couldn't avoid another glimpse of his naked, wet, in-very-good-shape, torso.

"I'll be out there," she gestured and nearly ran from the bathroom.

The next hour went by in a haze of awkwardness. She had taken a shower while he dressed, and then the two bathing suit clad ex-lovers shared the mirror while he shaved and she applied waterproof mascara. It was domestic, and that was exactly the problem. It felt too right to be standing here with a married man and enjoying it.

She pulled her hair into a loose ponytail, settling for a low-maintenance look, especially since they were snorkeling later today. Ever since she started working in television, her off days had become less and less high maintenance, instead settling for comfort. Not that she still didn't look pretty. She watched Steven shave in the mirror. He had gotten rid of the porn star, white-trash mustache, thank God, but the sideburns lived on, as did the 'fro. She smiled a little. He noticed.

"What?"

"Just thinking about your sideburns. They still live on."

"It's a trademark, doll. I would be lonely without them." he smiled at her and rubbed them fondly.

"At least the mustache is gone." she laughed.

"You didn't like it?"

"You looked like white trash. What self respecting black man has a mustache like that? Must have been the white side of the family that made you grow that God awful thing." he cracked up.

"I plead temporary insanity." he set his razor down and ran his fingers through his hair. It was starting to frizz up.

"Here," Jackie grabbed some product off of the counter and squeezed it into her hands. "You're hair is all frizzy." he leaned over and she rubbed the stuff into it. They were very close in proximity, a fact both were very aware of.

"Um. Jacks?"

"Hmm?"

"I need to tell you something. It's about Sam. We're uh…well we haven't been together in a very long time."

"You're divorced?" she seemed surprised. Where the hell did she think Sam was this whole time?

"Not exactly," she leaned back and he straightened up, looking right into her eyes. "We were never technically married. She was still married to this other guy…and well, he came and got her."

"Oh," Jackie's face betrayed no emotion. "I'm sorry. That must have been hard."

What? Leaving Sam hard? He almost laughed. "No, actually, I was relieved."

"Oh, well. That's good. It's fun to be single isn't it?" with that, she turned around back to the mirror and adjusted her suit.

"Actually I--"

"Come on," she cut him off. "Everyone else is going to be waiting for us," she disappeared back into the bedroom to put on a cover-up over her suit. Hyde stayed back, hurt at her indifference and how quickly she shrugged him off. Was she really over him? "Ste-ven!' he heard her whine from the other room, "Donna will kill us if we're late. This is like a rehearsal brunch. The best man and bridesmaid have to be there! Let's go!" her command dragged him out of his self-loathing thoughts and out of the door with her.

At brunch, Jackie tried to ignore what Hyde had said to her. He was single? It seemed like he had been for a while now. Why didn't he call her? She thought she meant something to him, even after Sam, but she guessed she was wrong. It occurred to her that Donna had tried to tell her about him and Sam several times before and maybe even on this trip. She should have listened. Oh well, that can't be changed now, she thought. Today was for Donna and Eric, not her and Hyde. She put on her best bridesmaid smile and chipperly agreed to hula dance with the staff of the resort when they asked for volunteers. If she kept herself busy, she would have no time to think about Hyde. Or, (she glared momentarily across the table) at Kelso desperately throwing himself at her mother. It was obvious something happened last night. She nearly threw up.

Yup, she was defiantly done with thinking for today.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! You really are all too kind.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well I can dance with you honey  
If you think its funny  
Does your mother know that you're out?  
And I can chat with you baby  
Flirt a little maybe  
Does your mother know that you're out?**

Take it easy (take it easy)  
Better slow down boy  
That's no way to go  
Does your mother know?  
Take it easy (take it easy)  
Try to cool it boy  
Take it nice and slow  
Does your mother know? 

* * *

Michael Kelso was at his wits end. Pam Burkhart hadn't even looked at him once. He was tan, his hair was perfectly feathered and you could see his chest because he was in a bathing suit. So, God, why wasn't it working?!

It was making him so upset that he barely could watch when Jackie was up there dancing in her grass skirt. Well, almost. Jackie was so hot he had to watch. He'd be hitting on her right now, but she had made it clear in no uncertain terms that if he ever did that again, he would never be able to use his "fun stick" again.

Her mom was almost as hot. He would settle. Plus, a hot older woman? That was _awesome_. But clearly his charm wasn't working, he was going to have to step it up. He pouted.

"Kelso, what the hell is wrong with you man?" Hyde was sipping a beer and looking at him curiously.

"It's not working," he jutted his lip out further.

"What? Getting with Pam Burkhart?" Fez asked innocently.

"On no." Kelso smiled slowly, "I already did that."

Eric leaned over, trying to be discrete, "Then what's the problem?"

"She doesn't want to do it again. She said I'm not man enough. Shows what she knows." he threw a small tantrum and sunk lower in his chair.

"Oh yeah, that will definitely prove her wrong." Hyde couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice. Kelso just grumbled under his breath. Hyde ignored him. Something on stage was far more interesting.

Jackie had gamely agreed to go onstage with Donna and do some sort of Hula dance. The old Jackie would never had gone up there, at least not without a thousand complaints. But this older, changed Jackie went up smiling, donned the grass skirt and was now wiggling her hips for all it was worth.

She looked damn sexy. She had this bright smiled on her face and she was laughing and shimmying around her best friend. She was still in fantastic shape and apparently as limber as ever. He watched her intently for a moment, wondering how the hell Kelso was worrying about her whore of a mother when that beauty was up there putting on a show. Oh right, because her mother was a whore and Kelso liked whores, even when he had Jackie.

Duh.

Another song started up and Donna rushed off stage to grab her almost-husband. She drug him out of his chair and to the stage.

"Eric, Eric, Eric!" the guests chanted. Kelso perked right up, changing the chant to "Forman!" Hyde joined in as well, enjoying watching his friend turn bright red. He was wondering whether or not to use this as burn material later when suddenly the chant took a turn for the worse.

"Hyde, Hyde!" he looked around, alarmed. Eric was pointing at him triumphantly.

"If I have to do it, so does my best man!" He waved him up. Hyde opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off. Jackie had leapt off the stage and was rushing toward them.

"Come on," she whispered, "It's for their wedding and you're the best man." Surprisingly, Hyde allowed her to drag him out of his seat. Eric was already up there in his grass skirt, smirking at him. Hyde glared as a hotel worker approached with his. With a searing look, he sent the man two step back. Jackie grinned. "Here," she said taking the skirt. With a warning look, she secured it around Hyde's waist.

"Let's dance," she smiled.

The next few hours, under normal circumstances, would have been the most awful of his life. But a certain, bouncy brunette was making sure everyone was having a good time. She had taken her title of maid of honor to heart. Donna essentially had nothing to worry about as Jackie got them through a rehearsal lunch, dressed for snorkeling and out of the hotel, into the vans, out of the vans and onto the beach. This was no easy feat; Fez was flirting with every female he came in contact with, Donna and Eric wouldn't stop making out (and when they did, they just kept smiling at each other) Kitty was so bubbly it was almost scary, Red was just plain scary, Midge and Bob kept fighting then making up and Kelso and Pam had disappeared for about 20 minutes in the middle of lunch, Kelso returning with a pretentious grin. Jackie hadn't even batted an eye. It was amazing.

Now she was herding them all in the ocean, snorkels and dog treats (they attract fish) on each of them, shouting for Michael to put on his flippers. The group had broken off into pairs and spread out, each laughing and having fun. Jackie sighed and stopped yelling instructions. She looked a little stressed, but exhilarated.

"Can you take some time out of your schedule to snorkel with a friend, almighty maid of honor?" Hyde snuck up on her and whispered in her ear. She smiled at him.

"Oh God, yes. Please save me!" she grabbed his hand and drug him into the ocean, choosing a spot away from Kelso and Pam. Her mother was wearing a suit that was smaller than her own, a fact she pointedly ignored. A group of young men was gathered around her, practically drooling. She wanted to hurl. When Kelso picked Pam up and ducked under water with her, she nearly did. Instead, she focused on the man standing next to her.

"Have you ever done this?" she asked him, strapping on her snorkel.

"Nope. You're going to have to show me." He held up the mask and looked at it quizzically. She laughed and snatched it from him.

"You're hopeless," she leaned up and secured it over his face. She popped her into her mouth. "Leth's go," she lisped through the tube, her eyes sparkling. He watched her disappear underwater and followed her tentatively. It was beautiful. There were fish everywhere, not dumpy fish, but gorgeous ones of all different colors and sizes and shapes. The swum right up to the pair, circling them, nibbling on the treats tucked into the waistband of their bathing suits. Jackie reached out for his hand as the swum along underwater playing with the wildlife. Within a half hour, the two of them had swum far beyond the group and were out on their own. Jackie's eyes shined the whole time, doing the smiling her mouth couldn't with the mask on. Hyde tried to remain Zen as the fish swam around her, her hair fanned out around her face like a halo, her lithe form kicking about. She looked like a mermaid.

Hyde came up first, needing to shake the water out of his ears. Jackie followed. She pulled her mouthpiece out and smiled.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" her hair was a mess and she wasn't as made up as she had been all those years ago., her blue green eyes the exact color of the water. It was vulnerable, like she used to be when they were alone.

"Yeah," he was sure he wasn't talking about the scenery.

She graced him with another smile. "It's really good to see you again Steven. I've missed being friends."

"Me too." she smirked and splashed him playfully. In no time the two were running in the shallow water yelping like grade school children. Hyde caught up to her tinier form and grabbed her from the back, lifting her up with the intention of fake body slamming her into the ocean. She twisted and squealed, managing to wiggle enough so that he nearly dropped her and was forced to turn her body around. They were inches apart now, wrapped in each other's arms. Jackie suddenly blushed, averting her eyes shyly. Hyde felt no qualms about leaning down and doing what he had wanted to do since he first saw her. He brought her face up to his, and then suddenly felt his legs fall out from under him. The two went down, Hyde taking most of the fall to the bottom. They popped up gasping.

"What the hell?" Hyde yelled, turning to face a hysterically laughing Kelso. Jackie unfolded herself from his arms and straightened out her suit.

"I swam all the way over here and you guys didn't see me because I could breath underwater!" he fell into another bout of hysterical laughter. "Man! I love this thing!" he demonstrated the mask again by putting it in his mouth and going under. Hyde, still pissed at the stolen moment, pushed the top down hard. Kelso came out sputtering salt water.

"What the hell, Hyde?" he yelled. Jackie laughed.

"Oh man," she looked at her waterproof watch. "we need to head back now. We all have to get ready."

"Oh yeah, Donna wanted me to tell you that. That's why I came over here," Kelso dumped the water out of his snorkel. "What are you guys doing so far over here anyway?" he looked at the two of them questioningly.

"I guess the current pushed us out," Jackie answered a little too quickly. "Let's go guys," she started swimming back to shore.

Kelso waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Hyde, "Come on man, what were you two _really_ doing?" Hyde frogged him.

"What were you doing with Jackie's _mom_, you moron?"

Kelso smirked, "Oh you know…" his face fell, "I think she might be doing the same thing with that other guy from the hotel though."

"What did you expect?" Hyde was moving to shore, "She's a whore." Kelso splashed him angrily, but after Hyde held him underwater for a few seconds he called it a truce.

"Come on," Hyde grumbled, "before Donna and Jackie start yelling." they hurried to shore.

"Hey," Kelso asked suddenly, "If I made the tube really long, do you think I could ride a whale to the bottom?" Hyde rolled his eyes.

**

* * *

****This one is shorter, so I am giving you a two-chapter update today. Please don't forget to review and tell me how it's going!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I've seen you twice, in a short time  
Only a week since we started  
It seems to me, for every time  
I'm getting more open-hearted**

I was an impossible case  
No-one ever could reach me  
But I think I can see in your face  
There's a lot you can teach me  
So I wanna know......

What's the name of the game?  
Does it mean anything to you?  
What's the name of the game?  
Can you feel it the way I do?  
Tell me please, cause I have to know  
I'm a bashful child, beginning to grow

And you make me talk  
And you make me feel  
And you make me show  
What I'm trying to conceal  
If I trust in you, would you let me down?  
Would you laugh at me, if I said I care for you?  
Could you feel the same way too?  
I wanna know......

* * *

Hyde was watching Eric bound around the room like a hopped-up rabbit. He was shaking and muttering, occasionally uttering curses. Hyde watched him amusedly for a while before pitying him.

"Forman, man, calm down. It'll be fine."

Eric kept pacing and bouncing. "Man, Hyde, what if she decides to pay me back for all those years ago? What if she doesn't show up? What if she runs off with someone? Oh God, what if she runs off with Kelso?" he began hyperventilating.

Hyde patted him on the back. "Forman, don't worry. Kelso is too busy trying to get with Pam. Besides, back then you were a dumbass. Donna's not a dumbass. And she loves you man. You should be excited she's marrying you."

"I am!" Eric paced more feverishly, "But I keep thinking it's too good to be true, like some big joke. Like at any second she's going to look up and go, oh man, what am I doing?"

"Forman!" Hyde grabbed his shoulders to keep him in place, "you've been dating how many years? Don't you think she would have done that a long time ago. She _wants _to marry you! So sit down before I get out the helmet."

"You brought the helmet?" Eric asked.

Hyde shrugged, "Kelso is here. It's practically required."

Eric laughed but soon silenced. "You really think she wants to marry me? It's not a giant burn?"

"I _know _she wants to marry you Forman. Look, you should have seen how excited she is. Jackie has been trying to get her to sit still enough for her to do her makeup. She wants to spend the rest of her life with you man. Enjoy it."

"Wait," Forman grinned, "You don't think I'm an idiot for getting married?"

"I do, but you know, if we all get suckered into eventually, be glad you get to spend an eternity in hell with a great girl." Hyde walked to the mini fridge in the corner, trying to remain Zen.

"I guess I should trust you; you've been married."

"Not technically. And I wouldn't recommend that to anyone."

"Really? Who'd have thought being married to a stripper isn't all it's cracked up to be?" Eric's voice dripped sarcasm.

"Yeah, well, the perks were great, but the normal stuff wasn't so hot." Hyde cracked open a beer.

"Go figure," Eric was pulling their tuxes out of the closet. "So, you and the devil have been hanging out a lot."

"She's not the devil, man. She's helping you guys out a lot."

"Yeah she is. I don't understand it. But Donna and Fez have been telling me she's changed. I guess I figured changing over the phone didn't count."

"You talked to her?" Hyde tried to keep his voice even.

"Yeah, she called Donna a lot. A few times we chatted."

"About what?" Eric looked at him quizzically.

"Chicago, work, she asked me if I was treating Donna right. Nothing too big. I guess she and Donna talked about more girly things though. Like for a while, Jackie was dating some TV executive. I guess though he did something wrong because she dumped him."

"Jackie dumped someone?" Hyde sounded surprised.

"Yeah, I guess she doesn't mess around anymore. One strike and your out. Donna says she really matured and manned up. She doesn't take anyone's crap anymore."

"Wow," Hyde sounded impressed.

Eric shrugged, "Well, she moved out to Chicago to change herself. So it's not really that surprising."

"She what?" this was news to him.

"Yeah man. We didn't tell you at the time, but I guess it can't hurt now. She moved because she needed to get away, mostly from you. She said some stuff about being tired of never being good enough and always being the one who cried. She moved to become her own person. And, I have to say, it worked great. She's a lot better now. I don't even feel like really calling her the nicknames."

"She moved to get away from me?" Hyde felt like crap.

"Duh. Hyde, man, you treated her like shit, flaunted that stripper 'wife' around her all the time, negated all the stuff you said about caring about her. You can't tell me you thought she was going to stick around and be your whipping boy forever."

"God, I was an asshole, huh?" he knew he was; he had known it at the time. But he figured, if he hurt her first, then maybe he wouldn't hurt so bad. He had been a selfish bastard.

"That's an understatement. You should have worn the helmet man, for all of 1979." Eric noticed Hyde's face fall, "But hey, I wouldn't worry about it. She looks like she's forgiven you. You guys can be friends again." Hyde opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it, "Unless…." Eric read his friend's face, "you want to be more than friends…"

"I don't know. It's been weird. She hasn't been bitchy or anything, and she refuses to talk about the past."

"I don't blame her. It kind of sucked."

"I thinks she's over me man." Hyde took another gulp of beer for strength to admit what he was going to say next, "and it sucks. Because I'm pretty sure I'm not over her."

"So tell her."

"Forman, man, I can't--"

"For God's sake, be a man about it!" Eric gave him an annoyed look, "You owe her that much, you ass. She put up with your crap for all those years; she took your abuse and now she forgave you for being the world's biggest dick to her while she was crying for you every night. So grow a pair and tell her."

Hyde's mouth was hanging open. "Damn Forman. When did _you _grow one?"

"In Africa," Eric said matter-of-factly. "Being without the people you love puts a lot in perspective for you," he looked pointedly at his best friend. "So tell her."

"And if she doesn't feel the same?" Hyde couldn't believe he had just said it.

"Then honestly, I would chalk it up to karma. And thank God it wasn't worse. She could hate you."

"True," Hyde mussed, a faraway look in his eye.

"But hey! Don't steal Donna and my thunder. It's our wedding, damn it. So stop plotting and put on your damn tux, before I start hyperventilating again!" Eric instructed.

"Alright man." Hyde laughed and got up. "Let's get you married Forman."

Down the hall Fez and Jackie were tag teaming on Donna. Jackie was making up her friend's face and Fez had her hair under control. Jackie picked soft colors to bring out the naturally radiant look her friend had been sporting all weekend. She smiled.

"Donna when we are done with you, Eric is going to pass out before you even get to the alter." Jackie laughed.

"Then please tone it down a little. I don't want to get left up there again," Donna joked, but her face had a flicker of panic.

"Hey, don't worry," Jackie patted her shoulder. "This is going to happen. You're going to have a long life with the scrawny neighbor kid, filled with scrawny, tom boy, feminist children. And I get to baby-sit them when you two go out." Donna laughed.

"Thanks midget."

"No problem."

"How's it going up there, Fez?" Donna asked. The foreign man was wearing an intense look of concentration on his face.

"Wonderfully; you are going to be gorgeous." he smiled down at her.

"Jackie, don't you need to get ready?" Donna asked her.

"I can wait. I want to make sure you look great first. And to make sure your dress isn't made of flannel," she teased.

Donna put a hand over her heart, "Ah, shorty, you do care." they all laughed.

"So, Jackie…" Fez put down the straightening iron and grabbed some big hot curlers. "You and a certain ex-burnout have been spending a lot of time together."

Jackie rummaged through some makeup, "Yeah, it's really a relief to be friends again."

"So, you're not still in love with him?" Donna threw her two cents in.

"He hurt me really badly you guys. And I don't think…I mean I just don't want to be hurt like that ever again."

"Believe me, my goddess, I was there for all of those teary-eyed nights. I know how bad he hurt you. But he's been talking a lot about you lately, and even when you were gone he would try to bring you up casually. But I saw through it. He missed you a lot."

"He did." Donna added, "he used to ask me about you all the time."

"Then why didn't he call and apologize? Or at least tell me he wasn't married anymore, or just to say hello? I haven't spoken to him in three years, and now he is trying to act like our past never happened and trying to kiss me and stuff…" Jackie's voice was distressed.

"He tried to kiss you?" Donna's eyes were wide.

"And did you kiss him back?" Fez asked.

"No, I was going to the second time, but stupid Kelso interrupted us. It was probably for the best. I mean, if it didn't work then, why would it work now?"

"It might Jackie. You've both changed a lot."

"This is true. When you left, our Hyde was miserable. And he was showing it. He's better about talking about feelings now."

"I noticed that too…" Donna mused.

"You changed him, my angel, and he can't go back." Fez pulled some bobby pins out for Donna's hair.

"He still hasn't apologized." Jackie pointed out.

"Apologies were never his strong point. But has he tried to talk about it at all?" Donna asked.

"Yeah, but I keep cutting him off. I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Fez pulled the pins out of his mouth to ask his question.

"Because it makes me sad. And I spent enough time being sad over Steven."

"Well, maybe it is time to be happy over Steven," Fez pointed out casually.

"I've never seen the two of you so happy then when you were together." Donna pointed out.

"And I've never been sadder then when he ran off and left me for a whore." Jackie retorted. Donna opened her mouth to object. "No, Donna, it's ok. Steven and I have a lot to talk about. And we will, but not today. Today is your day. And you are going to knock them dead."

"Yes you are," Fez agreed. "Jackie, while Donna's hair sets, it's your turn."

"Oh goody," she clapped, "My hair follicles have missed you Fezzy."

"I know, my goddess, I know." Fez ran his fingers through her dark locks. "Everyone misses me."

The three laughed, excited beyond reason for the sunset wedding.

* * *

**Alright, I updated, so now you get to review! Please?**


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't wanna talk  
About the things we've gone through  
Though its hurting me  
Now its history  
I've played all my cards  
And that's what you've done too  
Nothing more to say  
No more ace to play**

The winner takes it all  
The loser standing small  
Beside the victory  
That's her destiny

I was in your arms  
Thinking I belonged there  
I figured it made sense  
Building me a fence  
Building me a home  
Thinking I'd be strong there  
But I was a fool  
Playing by the rules

The gods may throw a dice  
Their minds as cold as ice  
And someone way down here  
Loses someone dear  
The winner takes it all  
The loser has to fall  
Its simple and its plain  
Why should I complain?

But tell me does she kiss  
Like I used to kiss you?  
Does it feel the same  
When she calls your name?  
Somewhere deep inside  
You must know I miss you  
But what can I say,  
Rules must be obeyed

The judges will decide  
The likes of me abide  
Spectators of the show  
Always staying low  
The game is on again  
A lover or a friend  
A big thing or a small  
The winner takes it all

I don't wanna talk  
Because it makes me feel sad  
And I understand  
You've come to shake my hand  
I apologize  
If it makes you feel bad  
Seeing me so tense  
No self-confidence  
But you see  
The winner takes it all  
The winner takes it all......

* * *

Jackie stood in front of the mirror and fluffed her curls, doing last minute primping. Her makeup was simple and classic, her hair down and in looses curls around her head, a bright lavender flower tucked behind her ear. The flower matched her lavender dress. It was loose and billowy, falling just to her ankle. She had to admit that Donna had good taste, at least in bridesmaids dresses. She smoothed the dress out gently, rotating to make sure it looked alright in the back.

Perfect.

Donna had already gone off with her mother to put on her wedding dress. Much to Jackie's chagrin, Donna refused to let anyone short of Mrs. Forman and Midge see her dress. It was creating a fair amount of suspense. Who knew Donna had it in her to command the center of attention like that? Jackie smiled. She had taught her best friend well. She glanced at the bedside clock. There was still an hour and a half before the wedding began. Her friends had chosen to get married at sunset, the most romantic time of day.

They were such saps. Of course, Jackie had made sure both her eyeliner and mascara were waterproof. She was a romantic sap too. It was good to be prepared for what she was sure would cause a few tears. She smiled. Her best friends were getting married for real this time. Finally. A knock sounded at her door. She hurried over, her bare feet causing the dress to drag a little. She had yet to slip on her heels. She opened the door, surprised to see Steven Hyde.

He was standing there, hair brushed, glasses free, and wearing a tux. He looked good. He looked _really _good. Jackie swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Hey Steven." she moved aside for him to come in.

"Hey Jacks. I need a favor," he walked into the room, holding a black tie in one hand. "Can you help me with this? I never did get the hang of it." he held it up for her to see.

She smiled and playfully rolled her eyes, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Help me with my tie?" he suggested. She smiled and took it from him. She was forced to stand on her tip toes to reach him. He leaned down just a little bit.

"You look beautiful," he complimented.

"Thank you," she focused on tying the knot and keeping a blush out of her cheeks. She still loved his compliments. "You clean up pretty nice yourself."

"Yeah, well, I figured I owe it to the Formans to dress up. Especially since I'm the best man."

"Do you have your speech ready?" she asked conversationally.

"Yeah, I have something written down." he lifted his chin so she could tighten the knot. "Did Donna ask you to say something?"

"Uh-huh. I have something in mind," they fell into a comfortable silence as Jackie secured the tie, each thinking about how much they owed the couple who had been more family then their own parents. "There you go, Puddin' Pop," she let the tie fall back against his shirt and patted his chest. He grabbed her hand keeping it in place. He was staring at her intensely.

"Jacks, you called me Puddin' Pop." he whispered and moved his head downward, capturing her lips in a soft kiss. It was better than Jackie remembered his kisses being. In that instance, it felt like none of it had happened, Chicago, Sam, the last three years. It was like they were back in the Forman's basement, watching _the Price is Right_ that fateful summer day. She melted into his chest, returning his kiss. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her waist, hefting her up into him. She pulled away.

"Steven," he opened his eyes to look at her.

"Yeah Jacks?"

"What are we doing?" he lowered her back to the ground gently.

"I thought we were kissing," he smiled at his joke, but sobered at her serious expression.

"You know what I mean Steven. Are we just going to pretend that nothing happened between us all those years ago?"

"Jackie, I'm sorry about that. I was young and I was an idiot. I never meant to hurt you--" she pulled out of his embrace.

"Stop Steven. I don't want to talk about it. I forgave you for that a long time ago." she crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the ground.

"That doesn't make it ok. Jackie, I've thought of you every day since you left."

"Then why didn't you call? Why did you pick her over me?" her voice was soft and sad. He felt his heart break.

"You know me, Jacks. I'm stubborn and I push away the best things in my life." it hurt to admit that.

"All that tells me is that I was worth less to you than your stupid pride." damn it, she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She forced them down.

"Jackie, please. I'm sorry. I'll say it a thousand times if it makes it any better. I missed you." he reached out to touch her arm. She pulled away.

"I know Steven. But you never fought for me. Not once. Not when I wanted to go to Chicago, not when you followed me and saw Michael, not after Sam, not when I left the second time, not when you found out you had never been married. You never came to visit; you never even called." Hyde looked at the ground, ashamed.

"I thought you were better off without me. I thought I wasn't good enough."

"Well I wasn't. And you were always good enough Steven. You were more than good enough. I loved you." she stomped her foot, feeling like a foolish child but unable to contain her frustration.

"Loved?" he couldn't hide his disappointment at her use of past-tense.

"I don't know," she sounded distressed, "This isn't the time for this, Steven."

"Please, Jackie. Let's just talk--"

"No," she looked up at him, "I don't want to talk. Not right now. Not like this. What happened to us happened a long time ago."

"It still hurts," he admitted.

"I know, but now it's history. We tried it, Steven. We both did. I have no cards left. Maybe it's time to let it go."

"I don't want to let it go," he walked closer to her, willing her to look up at him.

"I fought for you Steven, and she won. You chose her. I lost."

"Jacks, that's not true."

"Isn't it Steven? Was I so bad that you couldn't commit to me? I would have done anything for you. I wanted you forever. But you chose her. I wanted to marry you, have your kids, have a house." Hyde felt a wave of shame like never before coarse over him. He had hurt her worse than he could have imagined. "Tell me, Steven. Did she love you like I loved you? Were her kisses and touches the same? When you woke up and looked at her every morning, did it feel like it did when I was there? When she said your name, did you get those butterflies in the base of your stomach? Was it worth it, sitting there, knowing I missed you, knowing I loved you and holding her instead?" her voice cracked and broke off

"I'm so sorry baby. I--"

"No, Steven. I don't want to talk about it. It makes me sad and tonight is for Donna and Eric." She wiped her eyes carefully and swallowed hard. He nodded, knowing she was right, looking at her with a strange sadness in his eyes.

"Ok, but you really don't feel anything anymore?" he whispered, his eyes roaming over her body. She took his hand gently and squeezed it.

"I'm sorry for making you feel bad Steven. I didn't mean for you to have to see me like this. I promise we'll talk ok? Just after the wedding and the reception. We can talk tonight. About anything." she cradled his chin in her hand. "Ok?"

He nodded and looked up at her. "Sure Jacks. We'll talk tonight." he forced himself to smile at her. "Now come on. I get to walk the most beautiful girl in the world down the aisle. I don't want to miss it." she grinned and blushed prettily.

"Ok, let me get my bag." He watched her strap on her shoes and grab a small clutch bag. "Let's go help set up." she grabbed his hand and planted a small kiss on his lips.

Though he wouldn't admit it, that little kiss she gave him ignited a flame of hope inside him so big that it was going to keep him going through the ceremony tonight and the inevitable group dances and speeches and sappiness. He was almost looking forward to it all.

And tonight, they were going to talk. And he wasn't going to hold anything back. He'd be damned if he lost her again.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Whoo, we're almost to the end. Thanks for the reviews and if you're new to the story, why don't you go ahead and tell me what you think of it? ;D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me  
I love you  
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do  
I cant conceal it, don't you see, cant you feel it?  
Don't you too?  
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do**

Oh, I've been dreaming through my lonely past  
Now I just made it, I found you at last

So come on, now lets try it, I love you, cant deny it  
'Cause it's true  
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do

Oh, no hard feelings between you and me  
If we cant make it, but just wait and see

So come on, now lets try it, I love you, cant deny it  
'Cause it's true  
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do  
So love me or leave me, make your choice but believe me  
I love you  
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do  
I can't conceal it, don't you see, can't you feel it?  
Don't you too?  
I do, I do, I do, I do, I do

The grand piano that had been set up on the beach struck up a familiar cadence. The guests, seated comfortably in lawn chairs on the white expanse of beach, stood up and turned. This was it. Donna Pinciotti, very soon-to-be Forman was making her way down the makeshift aisle. Kitty and Midge were already crying (as was Bob) and even Red couldn't hide the smile.

She looked gorgeous. Her dress was minimalist and purely Donna. It flattered her lanky form, tight in all the right, but still graceful and appropriate, places. She was smiling widely, her grin glowing nearly as brightly as the sunset behind them. Bob walked her slowly down the aisle, enjoying the moment. Jackie grinned broadly at her friend, and couldn't resist sneaking a peak at the groom. Eric was looking like all of his life goals and dreams were being fulfilled in this one moment. Jackie had no doubt that they were. Hyde was smiling at his friends as well. The two of them caught each other's eyes from their respective positions on either side of Eric and Steven's smile widened just a little bit. He winked at her and Jackie felt warmth spread through her body.

The wedding was beautiful. The suns set behind the canopy where the bridal party was stationed, casting a gorgeous colored glow on the whole ceremony. Donna began to cry softly and Eric looked like he wasn't far behind. This was the moment that all of them had known was going to come ever since the two of them first got together all those years ago. It had been a long and bumpy road, but they had gotten there.

It was time for the vows. Eric started.

"Donna, ever since we moved next door to each other, I've been attracted to you. It started off as a first crush, then a first girlfriend, then a first love. We've shared a lot of firsts together, some good and some bad, but I know that if there was anyone on earth to share them with, I am the luckiest man in the world to share them with you. I'm looking forward to a forever of more firsts." His voice broke just a little bit and Donna's tears came faster. No one thought it was corny. It was the plain and simple, beautiful, truth.

Donna began her vows. "Eric, throughout the years, we've drifted back and forth from each other. But we have always come back. And that's how I know that you are the one for me. Because through it all, at the end of the day, first thing in the morning, at lunch, at work, everywhere I went, I wanted you with me, no matter what. And now, I am so glad I have you and I can't wait to start a life where we finally, truly belong to each other. Because, Eric, my heart has always and will always be yours."

Jackie felt tears prickle the backs of her eyes at the sentiments. She knew exactly what they meant, or at least, she glanced across the aisle at the grinning best man, she thought she did. She watched her two friend seal their union with a kiss and run down the aisle getting showered with rice and well wishes. This was love in its purest form. It had been since they met and even when they were apart, and now it would be forever more. She hugged Donna and congratulated her.

"Oh Donna, that was beautiful. It was like something out of _Gone With the Wind_." He friend smiled.

"Thanks for being here Jackie. Thanks for always being there." tears sprang up again, making both women thankful for the advent of waterproof mascara.

"Uh-oh, are the waterworks starting?" Steven Hyde's voice asked behind the girls.

"Shut-up," Donna laughed through her tears and went to embrace her male friend. Jackie smiled at Eric.

"Congratulations geek. And if you ever hurt her, I swear they will never find your body," he hugged her.

"Aw, Devil, you do care!" He squeezed her tighter and Jackie returned the sentiment. There wasn't much time to talk because the newlyweds were swept off into the arms of many well wishers, leaving Jackie and Hyde to coral the guests toward the reception just up the beach. Jackie watched the guest line up in front of the bridal party's table to greet the new edition to the Forman family. Kitty and Red walked by, Kitty still crying through her bright smile.

"Wasn't it beautiful?" Jackie heard Kitty ask Red.

"Eh, it wasn't ugly." Jackie smiled, knowing that that was a declaration of absolute beauty coming from the gruff man. They paused in front of Jackie and smiled at her. "Hey there kiddo." Red greeted her. Before he could protest, she threw her arms around him, then Kitty.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Forman, for letting me into your beautiful family." her voice cracked a little and Kitty launched into fresh tears.

"Of course dear. You're like our daughter. Just not so…" she trailed off and glanced at Laurie, who had gotten in right before the wedding and was already flirting with some waiter behind them.

"Yeah, and you can hold a flashlight. That's a skill worth keeping you around for." Red smiled at her. Steven, who had been listening in stepped up as well. He whispered something to the older couple who smiled at him and patted his shoulder. Kitty hugged him tightly, promising that the next wedding would be his.

"Get Jackie back, Steven, she's a wonderful girl and she makes you happy," she whispered. He kissed her cheek.

"I'm going to try, Mom," Kitty blushed at the term of endearment and then she and Red moved on to the married couple, leaving Hyde next to Jackie.

"It was gorgeous wasn't it?" Jackie asked, watching their friends, "They look so happy."

"Yeah," Hyde agreed, and looked down at her. "Maybe we can be that happy someday." the way he said 'we' made it evident that he meant them as a couple, not two separate entities. Jackie couldn't help but smile up at him.

"Maybe. Isn't it time for your speech?" she asked suddenly.

"Sure is. Which means you're up next. Are you ready?" Jackie smiled and produced a folded piece of paper out of her cleavage. He grinned at her and shook his head.

"What? I had nowhere else to put it."

The two waited nervously as the guests filed into their seats and were served champagne. Hyde became increasingly more agitated and began tapping his foot rapidly. Jackie noticed. He always did that when he was nervous or impatient. She reached over under the table and squeezed his hand tightly. He grinned at her out of the corner of his mouth. He squeezed her hand back and stood up. He opened his mouth as though to yell and quiet the crowd down but Jackie cut him off by clinking her fork to her champagne flute. The crowd silenced in waves.

"Thanks," he whispered. She winked at him.

"Good luck."

Hyde looked over at Forman and Donna. He was never one for making speeches, but he figured his best friends deserved it. He took a deep breath, swallowed his pride and opened his mouth.

"So most of you know that Forman and I have been friends since we were little kids. And I pretty much kicked his ass in everything," the crowd laughed and Eric blushed. "I mean almost everything. He was the smart one and I was the muscle, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks and the nice kid. We didn't make sense, but it didn't matter, because we were best friends. And there was always one area Eric kicked my ass in. And that was caring about people. He never kept it a secret if he cared about you. He let you know. And we called him names and poked fun, but he never changed. He cared about Donna since the first time she beat him at sports. And he cared about me since I knocked that bully off of him in first grade. And because he cared about me, I'm not locked up somewhere, and because he cared about Donna, he gets to share his life with someone who deserves him. So I just wanted to say thanks, Forman, for being the girly dumbass who kept us all together. And congratulations, man, on being married to the girl you've been talking about since we were 12." Eric stood up and hugged his friend and the guests broke into applause. Hyde looked somewhat embarrassed but smiled and hugged Donna too before sitting down. Jackie stood up.

"I didn't meet Donna and Eric until we were all teenagers," she began, "They were the part of the group at school that everyone knew were really tight and didn't really hang out with a lot of other people. And I remember meeting them and thinking, God, that's really weird,"

She giggled and clarified herself, "I mean, it was the most mix-matched group of people ever: a foreigner," Fez smiled, "a pretty boy," Kelso gave her a huge thumbs up from the end of the table,

"a bad boy," she looked down at Hyde and he winked at her. "A cheerleader," she gestured to herself, "and a geek and a lumberjack," Donna and Eric laughed and she smiled nervously, "And then I started spending more and more time in that basement, and even when I had no reason to be, I found myself down there, or in the Forman's kitchen or garage and then in Donna's house. And it wasn't until I moved in with Donna that I figured out why. Somewhere along the line, they stopped being acquaintances and then after that, they stopped being friends and even stopped being best friends. They became family." she paused and regained composure, wiping tears from her face. "And I just wanted to say thank you all so much for letting me into your family and caring so much about me. And I couldn't be happier that two people who are so perfect for each other ended up together and officially joined our little makeshift, misfit group into a real family. And I can't wait until you and Eric are dropping your kids off at my house and I can tell them about all the good times we all had together." Donna began crying as well. Jackie raised her glass. "To the new Mr. and Mrs. Forman!" the guests clinked their glasses and drank and Donna jumped up and hugged her surrogate sister, both falling into tears. A few minutes later, Jackie collapsed into her chair again, her eyes a little red, but looking happy. Hyde patted her back.

"Good speech," he was looking over at Kitty and Bob, both crying and blubbering together. Kitty had ran up and crushed both Jackie and Donna in a hug before being returned to her seat.

"Thanks. Yours was hard to follow," he draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her in, offering her a box of Kleenex he had stored under the table earlier for this very occasion. She smiled at him and took one. "Thanks, you're so thoughtful" she kissed him on the cheek, then got up to offer the box to Donna, Kitty and Bob. Her lips left a tingling on her cheek.

"Hey Hyde," he looked up at Eric who was taking Jackie's vacated seat. "Thanks for being here man, you're like my brother."

"Hey, don't mention it Forman. I wouldn't miss this." Eric smiled and fake punched him lightly. His eyes followed his redheaded wife who was huddled in the crying mass.

"Love is funny, isn't it?" he looked at Hyde.

"Yeah. It makes you want to pull your hair out, but you're still happy." he watched Jackie floating about. Eric clasped his shoulder.

"Go get your girl man," he instructed, then made his way back to his parents and wife.

Dinner was served luau-style and then the dancing began. Eric and Donna danced their first dance as a married couple, then Donna danced with Bob and Eric danced with Kitty. Then the dance floor became a free for all as more of the guests indulged in the champagne and open bar. Laurie was dancing up on her ex-husband Fez, and the two were looking more and more comfortable with each other. Kelso had apparently gotten over Pam and had moved on to one of Donna's cousins. Red grudgingly was dancing with Kitty, and the newlyweds were packed somewhere in the middle of a group of well wishers. Jackie watched from a far, nursing a champagne flute and smiling. She felt a hand move to her lower back and another grasp her hand.

"Can I have this dance?" Steven Hyde whispered in her ear. She was shocked. Steven didn't slow dance, and if he did, he never asked her like that. She looked at him and nodded. He coaxed the drink out of her hand and laid it down on the table, grasping her hand tightly and sweeping her to the dance floor. "You look beautiful," he smiled earnestly at her as he pulled her tighter to him, one hand wrapped around her own and the other on her hip.

"And you look very handsome," she whispered into his chest. He spun her slowly to the conclusion of the current song. Jackie's heart leapt when Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," began to play. She looked up at Steven incredulously. He smiled.

"Did you know the D.J. takes requests?" he asked lightly. Jackie grinned. This was their song. Steven pulled her closer, not caring who watched, wanting to be near to her. Jackie relaxed into his chest, letting herself be swept up in the moment. Steven squeezed her tighter and she felt safe in his embrace. She felt home. She laid her head against him and sighed contently.

"I've missed this Steven," she whispered.

"Me too, Jacks, me too." he kissed her forehead. They danced through the song and another when _Knowing Me, Knowing You _came on. It had played continuously when Steven and her had broken up for the last time. It was her heart break song. Hearing it brought back the pain of the separation, the guilt and loss she had felt, the void that filled her heart with every insult he had shot at her with that other woman on his lap.

__

No more carefree laughter  
Silence ever after  
Walking through an empty house, tears in my eyes  
Here is where the story ends, this is goodbye

Knowing me, knowing you (ah-haa)  
There is nothing we can do  
Knowing me, knowing you (ah-haa)  
We just have to face it, this time were through  
(this time were through, this time were through  
This time were through, were really through)  
Breaking up is never easy, I know but I have to go  
(I have to go this time  
I have to go, this time I know)  
Knowing me, knowing you  
Its the best I can do

Memories (memories), good days (good days), bad days (bad days)  
They'll be (they'll be), with me (with me) always (always)  
In these old familiar rooms children would play  
Now there's only emptiness, nothing to say

She stopped moving and pulled away, leaving Hyde cold and confused.

"What's wrong Jacks?" he asked her and tried to pull her back to him.

"Nothing," she quickly lied and looked down to hide the tears in her eyes from him. The song kept playing, and Jackie felt like her heart was breaking all over again. She looked around at the festivities, remembering how she had wanted this so badly for the two of them: for her and Steven. And how he never did. How he only said he loved her when it was convenient for him. "I--I'm going to go see if Donna wants to throw the bouquet," she let go of his hand and quickly slipped away.

Hyde was confused. She had been so happy a minute ago, now she was practically crying and trying to get away from him as fast as she could. He had thought getting the DJ to play their song would help, but apparently it had made it worse. He turned around, needing to talk to someone and not wanting to bother anyone at the same time. He spotted a morose looking Fez in the corner table, staring glumly at Laurie. He made his way over to him.

"What's up, Fez?" he sat down next to him.

"Nothing," Fez lied. "Everything is wonderful."

"Really?" Hyde followed his line of vision to Eric's sister. "So Laurie dancing with that guy over there isn't bothering you?" Dancing wasn't really the word for it. It was more like, baby-making in public. Hyde hid his grimace.

"No!" his friend protested too loudly. "It doesn't bother me that we were married first and no one noticed. Not at all."

Hyde raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wait, you want to be with _Laurie_," the thought was incomprehensible to him. "Why?"

"Well why do you want to be with Jackie?" Fez fired back.

"Because man…" Hyde trailed off.

"See?" Fez asked. "Maybe there is no logical reason. You and Jackie are opposites; she is a goddess and you are…" he looked at Hyde, "a burnout. But you still got to be together. Maybe I want to be with Laurie." he sunk down in his seat and sulked.

"Have you always wanted to be with her?" Hyde asked. What Fez was saying made a lot of since. Why were they different them him and Jackie? No one wanted them to be together except themselves. They had each other. Or at least they did. Now it seemed like he was the only one in their corner.

"Yes," he pouted, "no one noticed it. They were all too busy with their own lives," Hyde felt bad. Fez always got pushed aside by his friends' problems.

"Well man. Tell her how you feel." Hyde suggested.

"I did. She rejected me." he looked so sad.

"Fez, man," Hyde gripped his shoulder tightly. "You never were someone who gave up. Don't start now. Go get your girl." he gave him an encouraging pat.

"No. I will not be embarrassed again. I will just be lonely and alone for the rest of my life." Hyde glared at him.

"Quit the pity party. If you love someone, don't you ever give them up. Trust me on that one. Being miserable and alone sucks. Go get your girl, Fez, or I swear, I am going to kick your ass." Fez looked over at him.

"Hyde, you care!" Hyde frogged him. "Ai! Fine, I will go!" he stood up quickly. "Thanks, Hyde. You were always a good friend." Hyde just nodded.

"Whatever man. Just go get the devil." Fez grinned.

"You should too, even though I prefer to think of her as a goddess." He smiled. "You know, she used to play this song all the time at out apartment after you two broke up." Damn, it all made sense. He was going to kill whoever put this song on. He needed to make it better…

"Fez, wait!" Hyde was up.

"Yeah," Fez turned back to his friend.

"I've got an idea that I think will help both of us…"

"Alright! Let's hear it!" Fez jumped up and down.

**

* * *

**

**A/N: So, it is almost over. I think that chapter was a little longer, but I hadn't updated in a little while, so there you guys go. Review, review, review please!**

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

**Oh you can take your time baby, I'm in no hurry, know I'm gonna get you  
You don't wanna hurt me, baby don't worry, I ain't gonna let you  
Let me tell you now  
My love is strong enough to last when things are rough  
Its magic  
You say that I waste my time but I cant get you off my mind  
No I can't let go  
Cause I love you so**

**If you change your mind, I'm the first in line  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me  
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around  
If you've got no place to go, if you're feeling down  
If you're all alone when the pretty birds have flown  
Honey I'm still free  
Take a chance on me  
Gonna do my very best, baby can't you see  
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me  
(take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me)****

* * *

**

"Uh, hey guys," Fez was at the microphone onstage, trying to get the attention of all the guests. It wasn't working. The music continued to blare out of the stereos and a drunken and giddy crowd was showing no sign of slowing down. Jackie noticed Fez's feeble attempts though and made her way to the stage to ask him what was up.

"Fez," she hissed, "What are you doing?" he looked down at her.

"Something I should have done long ago!" He declared. Fez took a deep breath and then opened his mouth. "WILL YOU PEOPLE SHUT UP!" his voice pulsed through the speakers, effectively silencing the crowd. They all looked curiously at him, expressions of confusion written on every face. The DJ too, looked perturbed that someone had interrupted his jam session.

"Excuse me, man," a familiar gruff voice drew Jackie's attention to the DJ booth in time to see Hyde stop the currently playing record and place another one on there. "You ready Fez?" he asked his friend. Fez nodded.

"Let's do this," he gripped the mic, yanking it out of its stand and pulling it to his face with the finesse of a rock star.

"Alright," Hyde nodded then spoke into the DJ's mic. "This one goes out to Laurie Forman…though I'm not exactly sure why…" he trailed off, a genuine bewildered look on his face. "Oh well," he snapped back out of it, "Here it goes," he spun the record and stepped to the side.

_Take A Chance On Me _filled the reception area, causing a array of guests to begin laughing in confusion. Jackie, however, wasn't laughing. She couldn't tear her eyes from what she suspected her friend was about to do. When the two of them had been living together they had experienced a drunken night of confessions, she confessing an undying and unaltered love for a certain scruffy bad-boy and him for a bad-girl (well, a slut really). She pretended not to remember it the next morning, and he did her the same courtesy. Apparently, those long repressed feelings were coming to a head.

"Laurie, my love, this is for you." He opened his mouth and began to sing. Kitty gasped and dropped her glass, Red looked like he was ready to kill someone and Eric looked like his reality had been shaken.

Fez was singing the lyrics to a bewildered looking Laurie on stage at the reception. Jackie wasn't sure what was more shocking, her friend onstage singing ABBA (and seriously, how many more times was she going to have to listen to people butcher their music?) or the pleased look on the face of the woman she once beat up. The blonde's jaw was hanging open. Jackie couldn't blame her. Fez was rather shocking. It wasn't so much that he couldn't sing, it was more that no one knew he still cared about Laurie. Hell, no one knew he had ever cared about Laurie. Apparently Laurie was no exception to this rule. She looked rather shocked.

Donna and Jackie exchanged frantic eye contact, silently forming a plan. Donna grabbed Eric, swung him into a dance and joined Fez in singing the harmony to Laurie. She prodded Eric roughly in the ribs and he reluctantly joined in. Jackie began singing as well, forcing the guests around her to dance through swinging them around or grinding on them. The action spread like a ripple through the group.

Pleased that their plan was working, Jackie swung her head around to look at Laurie. She was still unmoving, but Jackie was pleased to see that the gut she had been dancing on had moved away awkwardly. It was a start, but Jackie had to get her stupid, slutty, blonde butt on that stage with Fez before her friend got his heart broken. That wasn't going to happen on her watch. She started pushing through the crowd with the intention of telling Laurie that if she didn't go up there, she was going to make the beat down she gave her all those years ago look like a pillow fight. It was difficult to get through. The drunken crowd was now singing to Laurie just as loudly as they could, urging her to take a chance on the young man pouring his heart out on the stage.

Someone beat her to the punch. Hyde pushed his way through to Laurie and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was, it worked because within seconds, she leapt up to the stage and laid a big, wet kiss on Fez, grabbed the microphone and proceeded to turn his solo into a duet.

The crowd cheered and swept into a conga line, Fez and Laurie at the head. Eric and his parents were giving each other concerned looks from across the party, but eventually Kitty just shrugged and forced her husband into the line. Donna did likewise with Eric. Jackie smiled, happy it had worked out, but curious to know what Steven had said to get her up there. She tried to ask him, but someone grabbed her around the waist and locked her in the line.

By the time the serenade was over, the guests were in even higher spirits, and it was time for the bouquet and garter toss. Jackie lined up faithfully with the other women, her mind occupied elsewhere. Donna was looking over her shoulder and grinning.

"Ready?" she asked. The women squealed and bustled against each other. "Alright. 1, 2, 3, GO!" Donna tossed her bouquet high in the air. Instantly, Jackie's body responded, using tricks she had picked up long ago to body check her way into a good position. She leapt into the air, her fingers curling around the long stem of flowers. The women went down in a pile and the bouquet was nearly lost to her. She hit the ground hard and skinned her elbow. When the wreckage was cleared, and the women all up, it was clear who was the winner.

Jackie had caught the bouquet. She smiled brightly. "I got it!" she screamed excitedly, jumping up and down.

"Good catch, midget." Donna congratulated her friend. "You should play football. You didn't let that thing go."

"I know," Jackie was breathless, but smiling, "I skinned my elbows and I'm pretty sure that chick in the green dress bit me." she glared at the woman in question, who returned the glare full-force.

"Do we even know her?" Donna asked, looking over.

"I don't. I thought you did." Jackie brushed herself off and laughed.

"No. I think I saw her in the all-you-can-eat buffet this morning though…"

"Explains why she nearly crushed me when she landed on me…" Jackie mussed. Donna laughed.

"Come on, Eric is tossing the garter."

The two made their way to the chair where all the men were gathered around. Donna sat in it, and Jackie gave her an encouraging smile. "Throw it to someone sexy, Eric. I don't want to dance with just anyone." Eric laughed.

"I'm not the best at judging men, Jackie. You're going to have to take what you get." The men crowded tighter around, some already making cat calls and whistling sounds. Kelso was in the forefront, and Jackie looked around for Fez, waiting for his surely perverted comment. She rose her brows when she didn't see him.

"He's in the corner with Laurie," a familiar voice supplied the answer nonchalantly, "I think they may have accidentally glued their mouths together" Steven smiled at her. "You caught it." he stated, looking at the bouquet.

"Yeah, I took a beating for it though," she gestured to her elbows. He laughed.

"You always did know how to fight for what you want." he sounded proud of her. "We'll have to clean you up later tonight, grasshopper." she laughed at his nickname for her.

"Hey, Steven, what did you say to get Laurie back with Fez?" she asked.

"I'll tell you that tonight too." she opened her mouth to protest, but then a garter went soaring over their heads, and a host of drunk, horny men went sprinting after it, eager for a chance to grope the hot maid of honor. Hyde grabbed Jackie around the waist and pulled them both out of the stampede. "Nice shot, Forman," he directed at Eric, who was still kneeling in front of his wife. "You don't shoot a garter like a sling shot. And if you do, aim."

"Sorry," Eric looked anything but, "but there are more important things on my mind then aiming." he kissed his wife's leg saucily. Hyde rolled his eyes and turned away.

"Aren't you going to try and get it, Steven?" Jackie asked him. "You get a dance with me, you know." she shook the bouquet as evidence.

"No thanks. If I get to dance with you, I want to do it on my terms, not the establishments." Jackie rolled her eyes at him, but secretly found it cute that he still clung to his conspiracy theories. "But if any of them touch you, tell me and I'll kick their asses."

"Suit yourself," she said, trying to remain cool, but delighted at his protectivness. She added some extra wiggle to her step for his benefit and shimmied over to watch the struggle. Suddenly, Kelso bolted upright.

"I got it!" he shouted triumphantly, the garter dangling from his finger. He was missing a button from his tux and his cummerbund was askew. He smiled widely. "I get to dance with the maid of honor. Alright!"

The DJ started the slow song, and Jackie handed the bouquet to Kitty and went to dance. Michael tried to pull her in, but she held them firmly at a respectable distance.

"Aw, Jackie, don't you want to be close to me anymore?" he pouted.

"We've been over this Michael. Besides, if you want to get closer to a Burkhart, try my mother. Oh wait, you already did." She smiled wryly at him.

Instead of being insulted, Kelso just smiled. "Oh yeah. Good idea! You were always smart Jackie." Jackie laughed and shook her head.

"Shut up Michael." the entire dance she was very aware of a particular pair of blue eyes watching the two of them intently. She knew Kelso was why they had broken up in the first place. If Steven was till jealous of him, all the headway they had made in the last few days could shatter. The song concluded and Kelso pulled her into a bone crushing hug.

"Michael," she gasped, "I can't breathe."

"Oh," he dropped his arms, "Sorry. Hey, I'm going to go find your mom and see if she'll model this for me." he spun the garter on his fingers. "Bye!" and with that, Michael Kelso was off. Jackie shook her head and turned to take the flowers from Kitty. Hyde smiled at her, but made no mention of Kelso.

"That boy never changes." Red growled in disgust. "And speaking of that, where is the foreigner?" Kitty, who knew the answer well, quickly grabbed his arm.

"Red, you know, we don't have to send Eric and Donna off until the morning. And we really have only one night left in that beautiful room, with that beautiful bed…" she hinted. In unison, Jackie and Hyde groaned, quickly moving away from the elder couple.

"So…" Jackie exhaled, watching couples begin returning to their rooms. She noticed that Eric and Donna were conspicuously absent.

"Looks like the newlyweds dipped off to the honeymoon suite early." Hyde read her mind.

Jackie giggled, "Guess I have the room to myself tonight." Hyde bit his lip at her statement. Jackie pretended not to notice the sexy motion and instead looked at her shoes. "My feet are killing me," she semi-whined. Hyde looked down at them.

"That's because your shoes are torture devices. Sexy ones, I'll give them that, but still." Jackie smacked him lightly.

"You know, I think I'm ready for that talk now," she hinted. Hyde grabbed her and swung her into his arms like a baby.

"Let's go get you cleaned up then." Jackie giggled and leaned into him allowing herself and her poor, tired feet to be carried down the beach and back to her room. She sighed.

Yup, tonight was almost perfect. It could only get better if this talk went well.

She prayed with everything in her that it did.

_

* * *

_****

_A/N: So I know some of you were waiting for Hyde to serenade Jackie. I promise you, I wouldn't let you guys down. Hang in there for the conclusion and once again, thanks for all the loyal reviewers. You make a tough week go by faster._


	12. Chapter 12

Steven carried Jackie to the hotel and up the stairs into the lobby. He marched them up to the desk.

"Can I get a first aid kit?" he asked the man at the desk. "She hurt her elbow in the free for all to catch this stupid bouquet." He gestured to the bunch of flowers Jackie was still triumphantly grasping. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes sir. But would you like us to fix the lovely lady up for you?" the man smiled at her a little too friendly-like.

"No. I'm going to take care of her." Hyde informed him curtly, and took the kit from the man's hands. "But thanks anyway." He turned and carried her away from the desk. Jackie could tell the man had pissed him off. She squeezed his arm.

"You're going to take care of me, Steven?" she asked sweetly.

"Shut it Jacks." she giggled anyway.

They were attracting the attention of some curious onlookers. A group of older women looked at them with disapproval. Hyde wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at them. They scoffed and averted their eyes, instantly converging and no doubt discussing the young duo.

"Steven," she scolded, smacking his chest lightly.

"What? Might as well give them something to talk about. We probably made their night." he smirked at her.

"Well, of course. We're the hottest thing to walk through this lobby since…well ever!" Steven smiled and shifted her in his arms so he could push the up button on the elevator.

"Damn straight," he made a cocky face. The elevator dinged and he carried her in.

"You know, I can walk Steven. You don't have to carry me."

"I know." he said simply and pushed the button for their floor.

"Alright, …You can put me down then." he looked down at her.

"Maybe I want to carry you."

"But why?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Jeez, Jacks! I want to carry you! So shut your pie hole!" He shifted her weight in his arms again to drive his point home.

She scowled at him, but secretly enjoyed the attention he was showering on her. "Fine. But I'm being quiet because I want to be, not because you told me."

"Sure Jacks."

"I am," she beat her palm against his arm.

"Whatever." he sounded Zen but his eyes were sparkling at her. The elevator doors opened again and he carried her out and down the hall. When they passed the guy's room he banged on the door with one fist. Jackie looked at him questioningly.

"I have to ask Fez something." he responded. When no one answered, he knocked again, this time louder. "Fez! Open the damn door!" there was the distinct sound of Marvin Gaye's song "Sexual Healing," abruptly ending and a scuffling from inside of the room. Laurie swung the door open. Her body was shielded only by a sheet. Jackie was unable to contain the sound of disgust and quickly turned her face into Hyde's chest to avoid the sight of an almost naked Laurie. "Damn Laurie, put some clothes on!" Hyde groaned.

"She will do no such thing!" Fez stepped up behind her, equally as naked, and grabbed a corner of the sheet to cover himself. Jackie made the sound again and buried her face further into Hyde's arm.

"What do you want?" Laurie snapped. "We were busy."

"Fez man, did you do the thing?" Hyde asked, completely ignoring Laurie.

"I did. And then I did Laurie!" Fez squealed excitedly and clapped his hands.

"He sure did," Laurie flashed Fez a disgustingly sexy look. Hyde and Jackie groaned in unison. The adjoining door next to them that had belonged to Eric before his honeymoon flew open, revealing a naked Kelso.

"Hey guys!' he waved merrily at them with one hand, the other covering his privates. He spotted Laurie and Fez. "Man, are you guys getting some too?" He looked at Hyde and Jackie. "Man, you two better sleep together, because Donna and Eric are and you don't want to be the only two left out." He sounded genuinely concerned. "But you know, if Hyde doesn't want to, you could always come join me, Jackie." he grinned suggestively at her. Hyde punched him, successfully knocking him into a wall. "My eye! Damn Hyde!" the hand covering his parts went up to cover his eye.

"Oh, ew!" Laurie exclaimed.

"Hey, you liked it when I was dating Jackie!" this earned him another punch.

"Oh, Michael…" a feminine voice cat called from his room. Jackie's eyes widened.

"Mom?" she asked in disgust. Kelso looked excited.

"Bye!" he ran into his room and slammed the door shut.

"Well…" Fez grabbed Laurie's arm. "My needs aren't going to wait all night. Good night to you all." he began to inch back into the room.

"Fez man, did you do it?" Hyde started again.

"I said good night!" the door slammed shut. Immediately afterward, Laurie gave a high-pitched squeal.

"Oh Fez…" the moan reached the remaining pair in the hall. They looked at each other in horror.

"Steven…" Jackie's eyes were wide, all questions as to why they had stopped here in the first place replaced by an urgent need to get as far away from this door as possible.

"Right, doll." Hyde practically sprinted the remaining distance to Jackie's room. He swung the door open and ran straight through the room and to the balcony. He deposited Jackie gently on the hammock and bent down to kneel on the ground in front of her.

"Oh gross, I never want to see Kelso naked ever again. Especially with my mom!" she gagged and Hyde smiled at the fact that she had stopped using the idiot's first name. He busied himself with undoing the buckle on her shoes and sliding them off one at a time. "Steven, what are you doing?" she watched him as he took one of her tiny feet in his hand and began to massage it.

"Taking care of you," his reply was simple, but the way he said it sent a shivers racing through her body.

"Ok," she leaned back and watched him work, desperately trying to maintain control over what his simple actions were doing to her. "So," she started nervously, "are we going to talk?"

"We can talk later. Let me take care of you first." his tone left no room for argument, and for once, she didn't want to.

"Fair enough." If he wanted to pamper her, she wouldn't stop him. He moved to the other foot. "I can't believe Fez serenaded Laurie. I can't believe it worked." Hyde laughed.

"Yeah, I didn't know he still had feelings for her until I saw him at the reception."

"I did." Jackie didn't know why she was telling him this, but she didn't really care. His massage was making her stupid.

"Yeah. When did he tell you?" Jackie focused on speaking and not moaning contently.

"One night he got drunk and he told me," she managed to force out.

"Hmmmm…" Steven made a sound deep in his throat. It was strangely comforting to her.

He stopped his massage and moved to her elbow. He opened the first aid kit next to her and pulled out a cotton ball and some peroxide.

"Ouch," she hissed when he wiped the mixture over her raw skin.

"Sorry," he pursed his lips and blew over the cut. Jackie felt her insides begin to melt. "Better?" he asked.

"Un-huh," it was all she could manage to get out. He smiled and went back to massaging her feet. He was moving up her calves now, giving them equal attention. She leaned back and closed her eyes, losing herself in the feel of his hands. It had been so long since he had last touched her like this…

His hands stopped moving. She opened her eyes and sat up. "Ste-ven," she couldn't keep the pout out of her voice.

"Relax, Jacks. I'm going to get something to finish cleaning your elbows with. I'll be right back."

"Ok," she jutted her lip out anyway. He smirked at her and pushed her backward into the hammock.

"Be right back," he stood up and went back into the room. Jackie used his absence to try and get a hold of herself. She needed to calm down. She needed to remain in control. But damn him, if he kept this up, she was going to be putty. He never was this affectionate, or at least he hadn't been in a long time. She knew he was trying to win her back. One part of her mind told her to cut it off right now. But her heart told that part of her mind to shut the hell up.

"You know," Steven called to her from somewhere in the room. "I think Fez had the right idea about serenading Laurie."

"You did?" she called back, slightly surprised by his words.

"Yeah. I just don't think he did it right."

"Really? And how would you have done it?" she was interested to know. His idea of a serenade probably involved Led Zeppelin and beer.

"Well," she could hear him rummaging for something. "I wouldn't have been drunk for one thing."

She laughed. There went her theory. "Good point. What else?"

"I wouldn't have done it in front of a bunch of people."

"Well, you never were one for public displays of affection." she almost sounded upset.

"No, it's not so much that. I just don't need a bunch of people around to help me sing to my girl. If I was going to do it, it would be just me and my chick, all alone." Jackie gulped. Why was he saying this? "It's more romantic that way." he concluded, reappearing in the doorway. "Don't you think?" he was loosening his tie and shrugging off his jacket as he walked toward her.

"Yeah, it would be more romantic that way." she agreed, unable to take her eyes off of him.

"Are you cold?" he asked her. She was shivering, but not from the breeze. It was because of him.

"Oh, um…yeah." she stuttered.

"Here," he draped his tuxedo jacket over her shoulders. She wrapped herself up in it, allowing herself to breathe in his scent. He sat next to her on the hammock and finished placing a band-aid over her cut. "There. You're all better," he announced, and brushed his lips over it. She shivered again. "Still cold Jacks?" he asked slyly, draping an arm over her. Damn him. He knew what he was doing. She broke eye contact and looked over the balcony at the ocean.

"It's gorgeous out." she said quietly.

"Yeah," he agreed and stood up.

"Where are you going now?" Jackie couldn't stop herself from asking.

"I have something for you." he said simply.

"You do?" she couldn't keep the glee out of her voice.

"Yeah. Close your eyes." She didn't argue, but snapped them shut at once. She heard him move back into the room and out again. Then she heard something she hadn't expected. Acoustic guitar. She opened her eyes to the sight of Steven Hyde, bad-ass extraordinaire, walking toward her, strumming away. He smiled at her, then really threw her for a loop.

__

Here's to us one more toast and then we'll pay the bill  
Deep inside both of us can feel the autumn chill  
Birds of passage, you and me

We fly instinctively

When the summer's over and the dark clouds hide the sun  
Neither you nor I'm to blame when all is said and done

Holy crap. Steven was singing. To her! This was too good to be true. She pinched herself and was surprised to find she didn't wake up. He really was singing to her. And on top of that, he was kneeling in front of her now, still playing and still singing. He was serenading her!

_In our lives we have walked some strange and lonely treks  
Slightly worn but dignified and not too old for sex_

Steven wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively and Jackie giggled.

__

We're still striving for the sky  
No taste for humble pie  
Thanks for all your generous love and thanks for all the fun  
Neither you nor I'm to blame when all is said and done

His eyes were locked on hers. Jackie felt tears spring up behind her eyes. He smiled at her again.

__

It's so strange when you're down and lying on the floor  
How you rise, shake your head, get up and ask for more  
Clear-headed and open-eyed  
With nothing left to try

He looked at her so earnestly, like he was willing her to understand what he was trying to say. Jackie opened her mouth, singing the last stanza quietly along with him.

__

Standing calmly at the crossroads, no desire to run  
There's no hurry any more when all is said and done  
Standing calmly at the crossroads, no desire to run  
There's no hurry any more when all is said and done

The tears were running freely down her face now. Steven stopped singing, but kept strumming, standing up slowly and replacing himself next to her in the hammock.

"Jacks," he started quietly. "I'm so sorry, baby. I know I messed up; I know I was an ass hole. And I know I don't deserve you. But baby, I tried living without you, and I can't do it. You and me, we never made a lot of sense to anyone but us. You know me, doll, my ins and outs. And I know you. I know I hurt you," he stopped playing and took her face between his hands. "I'll never hurt you again. Let me make it better, Jackie. I love you. I want you by my side forever. No one else can ever take your place, and I don't want them to."

"Oh Steven," she was crying even harder now, but for the first time in many years, her tears were out of joy. "I love you too!" She threw herself into his arms.

"Baby, I want to do it right this time. Please take me back. We can make it work. We'll go slow--" he was cut off by her lips fusing to his. She pulled back.

"Steven?"

"Yeah?"

"I want you too, now shut your pie hole and kiss me!" she drug him backwards over her and deeper into the hammock.

"Anything for you, doll." their lips came together again, and for the first time in three years, the two of them felt like they were home again.

* * *

****

A/N: Well, you like? I know it was slightly out of character, but I don't care! In a perfect world, this is what would have happened. Thanks for the reviews and please, keep telling me what you think!


	13. Happily Ever After

Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war  
Waterloo - promise to love you for ever more  
Waterloo - couldn't escape if I wanted to  
Waterloo - knowing my fate is to be with you  
Waterloo - finally facing my waterloo

My, my, I tried to hold you back but you were stronger  
Oh yeah, and now it seems my only chance is giving up the fight  
And how could I ever refuse  
I feel like I win when I lose

Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war  
Waterloo - promise to love you for ever more  
Waterloo - couldn't escape if I wanted to  
Waterloo - knowing my fate is to be with you

And how could I ever refuse  
I feel like I win when I lose

Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war  
Waterloo - promise to love you for ever more  
Waterloo - couldn't escape if I wanted to  
Waterloo - knowing my fate is to be with you  
Waterloo - finally facing my waterloo

* * *

Jackie groaned and slammed her palms down on the wood of her desk. She was giving the word processor in front of her a glare that could send a grown man running for cover. The damn machine just glared back at her. Or at least, it seemed like it was glaring. What it was really doing was sticking every time she tried to type the letter 'E.' And damn it, there were a lot of Es to type. She pushed it experimentally a few times, watching as it suddenly burst into life, leaving a trail of crooked Es in its wake. She groaned in frustration again. Now she would have to retype the whole page. She needed one of those new computers, but they were so big and so expensive. Maybe if this play did well, she could get it. Not that she and Steven weren't getting by. They were doing very well in the money department. But recent developments in her personal life made her think twice before spending money on herself. She whipped the paper out of the offending object and stood up, looking into the recesses of the machine. Great, she had no idea how to fix it. She sat back down, dangerously close to pouting, and glared at it again.

"Hey baby," a voice from the doorway brought her back to earth. She swiveled in the chair and saw Steven Hyde walking into the den.

"Hey," he raised his eyebrows at her. He could always tell when she was upset. The tone of her voice gave her away. That and her eyes. They always betrayed her naked emotions.

"Stupid thing not working again?" he asked and sat a mug down on the desk in front of her. She took the hot chocolate appreciatively, giving the love of her life a smile.

"It never works when I need it to. I was on such a role too," she blew on her cup to cool the liquid down. Steven pulled the word processor over to him and began fiddling with it.

"You're almost done, doll, don't give up." he flipped it open and began tinkering.

"I just wanted to finish it tonight. Early tonight." she sat the cup down and watched him.

"Why early?" he asked without looking up.

"Well you know…it's Donna and Eric's anniversary…" she kept her smile in check.

"Yeah, five years now. That doesn't explain why." he looked up at her briefly.

"Well, that's also the night where a certain sexy someone carried me up to my room and serenaded me." she had his attention now.

"Is it now?" he played along, pretending to be focusing all of his attention on fixing the processor. "And what exactly came of this serenade?"

"Well," she stood up and moved closer to him, "he made me realize how much I was still in love with him."

"And…" his lips were turned up at the corners just slightly.

"And," she continued, leaning down and whispering seductively in his ear, "he almost had me break my vow of celibacy."

"But you didn't. You made him wait for a year." he was leaning in very close to her now and setting what he had been working on back on the desk, his task forgotten.

"I did," she confirmed, "but I wanted to thank him for waiting so long, and for the gorgeous wedding he gave me. And for almost four years of pure bliss…" she lowered herself onto his lap. "But you know, the thing is broken so-" she began to stand up. His hands latched onto her hips, holding her in place.

"You could always thank me now and finish typing later." he suggested lowly.

"I could. But I don't want to get behind…it's so much work." she knew she was teasing him, but she didn't care. He would get her back later.

"I'll help you." his breath was warm on her ear and he began kissing up her neck.

"Well…if you promise you'll help…" Steven didn't answer her, but captured her lips in a fiery kiss. Jackie allowed herself to get lost in her husband. They had been married for almost four years now, four blissful years. He wasn't perfect, and neither was she, but they balanced each other out. Together, they were complete. They had started dating again immediately after leaving Hawaii. Hyde had moved to Chicago to be with her, expanding the chain of store his father let him own to the Chicago area. They didn't live together. Jackie was determined to make their relationship about more than sex; living together would have been torture. But he lived near her, and they traded off who made dinner every night, spending most of their time off work together. And 6 months in, Hyde decided he couldn't take it anymore and proposed. It wasn't traditional; he proposed to her while she was sitting on the hood of his car while visiting Eric and Donna. But it was in the exact place as their first kiss in Point Place. He had confessed that he had lied that night when he said he hadn't felt anything. He said he always felt for her, and always would. And then Jackie had started crying and said yes. And so, they planned their wedding, got married in Point Place and decided to move back. Jackie had worked her way to producer, meaning she was behind the scenes, and decided to start a show in Point Place.

And the honeymoon? They went to New York, but let's just say they didn't see to much outside of the hotel room. It had been a long time since they were together. They had lost time to compensate for.

Hyde was considering compensating some more when a noise in the hall caused he and his wife to pull apart. Jackie stood up, just in time, because their three-year old daughter was standing in the doorway, rubbing her eyes.

"Momma, daddy? I couldn't sleep." her dark, curly hair was mussed and her bright blue eyes were still half closed.

"I'll get her." Steven stood up and swooped their daughter into his arms, kissing Jackie on top of the head. "I fixed the thing. Keep working, I'll be right back." Jackie smiled as he carried away their daughter to tuck her in. She knew she had a good half hour before he came back. He was going to tell Layla a story before he put her to bed, of this Jackie was sure. Her husband was such a pushover when it came to Layla. The little girl had shattered his Zen into a million pieces, but she knew Steven was happier then he had ever been. So was she.

She sat back down to her work and began typing the final scene. She lost herself in the plot. It was the story of her and Steven, with some major liberties taken. All of their friends, and now family, were included, with fake names of course. She smiled. They were all doing great. Laurie and Fez had defied the universe and were married again, and already were working on baby number three. Donna and Eric had a child; Eric was teaching and Donna was a journalist. Kelso and Brooke had gotten had gotten back together when Pam had decided to permanently reside in Hawaii. Her mother and her talked on occasion, and she had even managed to visit her granddaughter occasionally. They all still lived close to one another, and their kids all played together.

Life was nearly as perfect as it got. And she just finished the play! She pulled the last sheet out and added it to the large pile next to her, then inserted a clean piece of paper. She hit a few keys slowly and with purpose, delighted to find that the Es now worked. She would have to thank Steven later. She continued typing, then stopped and leaned back.

__

Mamma Mia!

An ABBA musical

by Jackie Hyde

She smiled. It was done. She loved seeing her name like that, combined with his. She was no longer a Burkhart. She was a Hyde. And she was happy that way. Steven walked back into the room and kissed her.

"You finished?" he asked, sitting in the chair to her right. "But I was going to help you," he fake whined.

"You did by fixing the stupid thing and by putting our little princess to bed. Did you tell her a story?" Jackie stood up and moved back to sit in his lap. She ran her fingers through his curls, knowing he loved the feeling.

"The one of how we got married." he responded. He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.

"You're such a pushover. She gets you to tell her that story almost every night." Jackie smiled at how adorable the two of them were. Layla was such a daddy's girl.

He smiled and opened his baby blues, locking them on hers. "Well, don't tell, but it's my favorite too." Jackie smiled brightly at him.

"Same here," she whispered, kissing him.

"About what we were talking about earlier…" he said when they broke apart a few minutes later. "Still up for it?"

"Oh yeah. Let's go make Layla a brother." Hyde grinned and picked her up, practically running down the hall to the bedroom.

Oh yeah. Life was very good.

Life was great.

* * *

****

A/N: And there you have it folks! I hope it was to your liking. Obviously I took some liberties anf broke a little away from the play, but I thought it made more sense that way. I want to thank everyone who reviewed and made this story a lot more fun to write. Thank you all!


End file.
